She Won't Know
by Akela Victoire
Summary: "She won't know, Roxy..." Sky whispered in her ear. "You're right, Sky... She won't..." They never meant for their friendship to become more than just that. They were just confidantes to each other. Now that line was crossed and no one must ever find out, especially his wife... Dedicated to Midnights-AM-Child.
1. She Won't Know

Happy (belated) Birthday,**_ Midnights-AM-Child!_ **Since your birthday was actually on the 26th February, I hope you don't mind this being nearly a week late.

This is the main prequel to one of my next-gen fics- _**Duality**_. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Hey Roxy! How've you been?" Bloom called out to Roxy as she mingled with the customers at the Fruitti Music Bar.

"I... _what?_" Roxy shook her head, distracted.

"I asked how you were! You just graduated from Alfea a few weeks ago! What does it feel like to be a fully-fledged Alfea fairy?" The red-headed fairy asked.

"Still as surreal as the moment I first found out that I was a fairy..." Roxy shrugged. "How's married life?"

"Wonderful, wonderful! Sky's the best husband ever to me!" Bloom giggled.

"I'm guessing Stella would disagree with you on that. She and Brandon..." Roxy giggled as well.

"Anyway, gotta go finish these rounds, Bloom. I'll see you later!" Roxy picked up a tray and walked away.

When she went behind the bar to make more drinks, she glanced up to see Sky looking at her strangely.

She didn't like the look he was giving her. It felt... _unsettling_ was the best word to describe it.

She shook the thought out of her mind and went back to making more Banana Rum Smoothie for the customers at a particularly large table that had requested some.

Roxy had officially graduated from Alfea College For Fairies less than two months ago and was back on Earth, trying to settle back into everyday life. Except of course, it wasn't as simple as that.

She didn't have to work here anymore if she didn't want to- her father had made sure to tell her so- but it helped her take her mind off things when she wasn't undergoing princess/warrior training courtesy of her mother and aunt.

Like Manuel.

She'd been dating Manuel since her first year at Alfea and his second year at Red Fountain. They had seemed so perfect together for the almost five years they'd had. That was a long time... But after she'd graduated, they'd realised... that they were growing apart. Had different interests. Wanted to follow different paths in life...

She had kind of seen it coming, but still... It still _hurt _to think about...

She shook her head to clear it and turned her attention back to the drinks she was preparing.

Putting the last of the dozen glasses of the Banana Rum Smoothie she had made on the tray and carefully balancing it as she lifted it up with one hand, she navigated her way smoothly through the crowd.

"Here you go, ladies and gentlemen! One dozen Banana Rum Smoothies!" She smiled at them as she handed them out.

"Thanks, Roxy. Can I ask a question?" One female at the table wondered.

"You just did, but you can ask a second one..." Roxy smiled as the whole table burst out in laughter.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sky watching her- as he sat with Bloom.

When he saw her looking at him, he looked away and returned his attention to the conversation with Bloom.

"Hey!" The female brought her attention back to the present.

"Sorry. My mind wandered off for a moment. What did you ask?"

"I said: Why do you still work here? I mean, you're a real live fairy princess. You don't have to work here anymore. If I were you, I wouldn't work anymore unless I had to..." The woman said.

"Ah. While I no longer have to work, I actually enjoy the atmosphere here. I don't work here as much as I used to and I will probably stop permanently soon, but for now, it's a just-for-fun thing." Roxy shrugged as she gave out the last glass.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks for the drinks. These are delish! Who made them?" She asked.

"I did." Roxy smirked as she took the glasses up and moved away.

* * *

Roxy found herself leaning against the counter of the bar as she watched the Winx Club band play. They'd actually given up regularly playing music (except for Musa) on a regular basis, but somehow her father had convinced them to play a few tunes for old time's sake.

She wasn't working tonight, so she decided to stop and enjoy the music.

Everyone here tonight was dressed up and so was she. Or as dressed up as anyone could ever get her to be. Her hair was rolled up into a bun held up by a silver band and she was dressed in a simple, strapless black tube-top mini-dress with black and white layered lace frills around the hem, a simple silver waist-belt, matching necklace and stiletto heels, all courtesy of a certain Crown Princess of Solaria.

Considering the other choices that Stella promised to _make_ her wear if she didn't choose something nice (she could never forget the infamous salad dress...), this outfit wasn't all that bad...

"Roxy, darling! How nice to see you! You look fabulous!" Krystal approached her.

"Krystal! What are you doing here?" Roxy asked in surprise, not expecting to see the Crown Princess of Linphea in attendance.

"Coming to visit you of course! Flora told me about this concert they were having here for old times' sake and I decided this would be the perfect time to come visit!"

"And who's the handsome looking fellow accompanying you tonight?" Roxy raised an eyebrow at the auburn-haired, teal-eyed, olive-skinned man holding her hand.

"That would be my boyfriend: Lord Theodore of Graynor. Lord Theodore, I'd like you to meet my good friend, Crown Princess Roxanne of Tir Nan Og." Krystal gestured to him.

Roxy recognized the formal phrasing. "Delighted to make your acquaintance, Lord Theodore. But please, call me Roxy. Everyone does."

"Nice to meet you as well, Roxy. Please call me Theo. All my friends do." Theodore smiled back.

Roxy looked at Krystal and nodded. "I approve."

The two burst out laughing.

"Now why don't you go out mingling with the men, Theo? Us women have some catching up to do..." Krystal waved him off.

"Gladly!" Theo laughed before practically running off.

"So... Roxy, how are you doing since you broke up with Manuel?" Krystal asked, swirling a martini glass in one hand.

"... better. I'm not so hung up over it anymore. And I think Stella dragged me out here tonight in this getup..." Roxy gestured to her outfit. "... to try and cheer me up in true Stella fashion ..."

"Glad to hear, Roxy." Krystal smiled and the two gossiped for a bit before Krystal moved off.

Roxy moved to a table in the far back, somewhat away from the crowd and allowed herself to be lost in thought.

The sound of the Winx Club band performing another song shook her out of his thoughts and she found herself tapping her foot to the beat of the music.

"They actually don't sound that bad, do they?" Sky walked towards her.

"No, they don't. I thought that Musa was the only one with actual musical experience..." Roxy raised an eyebrow as he sat at the table with her.

"She is. The others just followed her lead, really..." Sky said.

"But Bloom is the lead singer, not Musa. Why? I've been wondering that for years..." Roxy reached for an appletini off a passing waitress' tray and Sky grabbed a drink called the Boatman's Cup.

"Bloom is my wife and I still can't get that one figured out. Her singing voice is okay, but not spectacular. Perhaps she threatened one of Musa's instruments with the power of the Dragon's Flame. We will never know." Sky said matter-of-factly, taking a sip of his drink.

Roxy studied the Eraklyonese king for a moment.

"You okay, Sky? Something seems off about you tonight. We're supposed to having fun and generally enjoying ourselves; mingling with the crowd..." The animal fairy spoke after a while.

"I could say the same for you, Roxy..." Sky smiled at her.

That smile. That oh-so-charming smile.

The smile you used when you were hoping to persuade someone to do something.

She remembered back in the summer, when she was still working here. The way he looked at her. The way he smiled at her. Manuel used to smile at her like that.

She didn't like it.

"Stop smiling at me like that. It gives me the creeps." Roxy said bluntly.

"What, like this?" Sky smiled a goofy looking smile that made her giggle.

"That smile was just stupid..." Roxy continued to laugh.

"Glad I could be of service."

"So... Why aren't you up there, cheering for your wife and dancing to the music like almost everyone else is?" Roxy raised an eyebrow, inquisitive.

"Why aren't you up there, cheering on your friends?" Sky retorted.

"Answering a question with a question? How very articulate of you." Roxy snarked right back. "You're a king. You should know how to talk."

"And you're a crown princess. So should you." Sky replied smoothly.

"To be fair, I didn't know I was a princess until a few years ago. You on the other hand... You grew up as royalty all your life. You lived and breathed royalty and everything about it from the time you left your mother. Plus you're like what, five or six years older than me? You've had more time to learn." Roxy pointed out.

Sky laughed again. "Okay Roxy. You win this round."

Roxy finished off her drink. "I always do."

"Remember that incident with the apple and the pen?" Sky began to chortle.

"I thought I told you all never to bring that up again..." Roxy glared at him.

"Okay. Sorry... Listen. Is there somewhere we could talk... _privately?_" Sky's tone changed suddenly, disconcerting her.

"Why would you want to talk to _me _privately?" Roxy was immediately suspicious.

"I need your perspective on something. This is not a matter for my royal advisors, I don't think I can ask Brandon and the other Winx wouldn't be much help either..." Sky said.

"Is it about Bloom?"

"It is."

"And what makes you think that I can advise you about your wife?"

"You... would be more impartial than the others. I know you get along decently enough with her, but you are not as close to her as some of the others, neither have you been through as much with her as the rest..."

"A fair point. I will meet you in Gardenia Park on Friday. 4 PM local time. Make sure no one knows where you are going and cover your tracks. I will be in disguise, but you will be able to tell that it's me. I trust you will do the same." Roxy nodded.

"I will." Sky nodded, finishing off the last of his drink and left the table. "You look lovely tonight, by the way..."

"Thanks, Sky... _Wait._ What... did I just agree to?" Roxy thought to herself.

* * *

"Roxy?" A black-haired man wearing a baseball cap and shades tapped a petite woman with curly light blue hair and gray eyes on the shoulder.

"Sky. So you made it and recognized me straight away..." Roxy nodded. "Now, what was it that you wanted to discuss with me?" She asked as she led him to a bench in a more secluded area of the park.

"I... I love Bloom. Really, I do. But... I don't quite feel the same about their relationship as I used to. Everyone back in Magix thinks that we have this perfect, fairytale relationship, but the truth is... _we don't..._" Sky admitted. "It didn't even start off as a perfect fairytale, as people tend to forget..."

"Ah. The infamous Day of the Royals incident. I watched video clips of it on MagixVid..." Roxy chortled, thinking of the Magix equivalent of YouTube.

"It's not that funny..." Sky grumbled

"Yes, it is. To me at least. "But your issue with Bloom... what is it? She and the other Winx seem to live like Barbie dolls sometimes. Always so perfect... They always had what seemed like thousands of projects on-the-go at the same time, balancing them all so perfectly..." Roxy paused.

"Three are royals, another is a member of the nobility, all of them are Guardian Fairies, plus they have their own individual projects that they want to pursue... and when they came to Earth to protect me from the Wizards of the Black Circle... All those obligations... I used to wonder... but not anymore... how they did it all. And still do to some extent."

"Well, Roxy... It's not as easy as you might think sometimes. I don't know about the other Winx, but Bloom has her own issues and so do..." Sky tailed off.

"...you?" Roxy raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah..." Sky admitted. "We had another blow-out today. She doesn't seem to realise that royal life is not as she dreamed it would be. It isn't always fancy galas and such. It requires doing things that sometimes you do not want to do. Would rather someone else do. But you cannot because it's your responsibility and it would be a betrayal of my kingdom to give it anything_ but_ my best when I try."

"It's a good thing then that Daphne was reinstated as Crown Princess of Domino then. Bloom is a great friend. I have not forgotten how she and the other Winx helped me all those years ago. But... _I..._ I cannot in good conscience criticise her. I'm still learning to be a good Queen for my people as well." Roxy looked down at her legs as she swung them back and forth idly.

"She means well, but sometimes... it just gets to me, you know?" Sky admitted.

"It's... hard adjusting to royal life. I mean... I have my mother and aunt to guide me, plus Stella and Aisha are always ready to give me advice if I ask, but after growing up like a normal American Earthling girl and then suddenly being thrust into a world of magic and on top of that finding out that you're this magical fairy princess... Plus she had the added bonus of finding out that she was the Keeper of the Dragon's Flame... That's enough to overwhelm anyone..."

"It is, isn't it..." Sky mused. "Thanks, Roxy..." He said, getting up.

Roxy looked at him, confusion written in her features. "But... weren't you supposed to ask me for advice?"

"You kind of did give it to me in a way. You gave me a lot to think about..." Sky smiled.

Damn that smile was attractive...

Wait, what? Where did that thought come from?

"Uh... I guess you gave me a lot to think about as well. I guess I should be thanking you too." Roxy smiled back at him and the two burst out laughing.

"You really are a good friend, you know..." She said.

"Yeah. Just a friend. This was fun. Having someone to talk to when royal life gets too much to bear at times..." Sky said.

"Yep. I find that I actually enjoyed myself here today talking to you. We should do this again sometime..." Roxy got up as well.

"Indeed we should..." Sky agreed before they went their separate ways.

* * *

"I can't believe you married Riven and had a kid with him..." Roxy cooed over the tiny bundle that Aisha held as she sat with the Winx and most of their significant others in a room of Solaria's Royal Palace.

"I can understand your feeling, Roxy. Duncan has been with us for almost five months now and when I look at him, I still can't believe he exists or that I married his father..." Aisha smiled at the light-brown skinned baby with a tuft of dark brown hair on his head and bright blue eyes just like hers, who gave her a gummy smile.

"Everyone saw me and Brandon getting married but this daughter of ours... Astoria doesn't look a bit like me! She's all Brandon except for the fact that she got my _mother's _eye colour..." Stella pouted as Brandon took the baby girl with dark brown hair barely enough to put into two tiny ponytails and silver-blue eyes from her mother.

"At least she looks like some part of your family. Duncan looks like Aisha made him by herself..." Riven pointed out, somewhat grouchily.

"Handsome little guy he is..." Aisha smiled.

"Well I'm glad for you two. Really. Those are some adorable looking babies." Musa looked on from where she stood with Helia.

Roxy held Duncan for a few moments and walked around with him before handing him back over to his mother.

A few years ago, after a series of events that Roxy still couldn't quite wrap her head around, Bloom and Sky, Stella and Brandon and Tecna and Timmy were the only original Winx couples still together.

Musa and Helia had gotten together, Flora was currently seeing someone, but wasn't saying who and the biggest surprise of all was Aisha and Riven falling in love and getting married.

Hell, when they admitted it, they said that it came as a surprise to even them...

"Damn straight they're good looking babies!" Stella exclaimed.

"Might have to draw up a betrothal contract for those two before some unsavoury character gets their claws into them..." Brandon joked.

"They're that good looking now. I'm going to have to agree with you on that one, Brandon..." Riven snickered.

Stella and Aisha glared at the two men, the former snatching Astoria away from her father.

_"You will do no such thing!"_ Aisha practically snarled, holding Duncan closer to her.

"Hey! I was just kidding!" Riven held his hands up in a gesture of surrender.

"So was I, Stella!" Brandon exclaimed.

Everyone else snickered at Brandon and Riven's expressions.

Except Bloom, Roxy noticed. And Sky...

Bloom was looking at the two babies and their parents with a look of envy and Sky... was that a look of... sadness?

Hers and Sky's eyes made four and she raised an eyebrow.

_"Later,"_ he mouthed.

Roxy nodded.

"Maybe they might grow up to date on their own." Flora commented.

"Maybe... Speaking of dates, who's the mystery man in your life, Flora?" Tecna asked, her engagement ring from Timmy glistening in the sunlight pouring in through the glass ceiling.

"You'll find out soon enough, Tecna. Soon enough. We haven't decided whether or not to become an official couple yet..." Flora admitted.

"Logical enough." Tecna accepted the nature fairy's answer.

Roxy fished her phone out of her pocket when she felt it vibrate and saw a text message alert from... _Sky..._

_"Can I come over to your house to talk tomorrow?"_

Roxy raised an eyebrow at the phone and looked over at Sky, who glanced up at her from his own phone. Bloom was next to him, reading a magazine on Solarian fashions, albeit a little distractedly, as though her mind was somewhere else.

_"Why my house? Isn't that a little... inappropriate?"_

_"It's not like we're doing anything... technically wrong. We'll just be talking. Nothing more..."_

_"I don't know about this... We always used to meet in public. In disguises, but still..."_

_"We're friends Roxy. Nothing more than that. Besides, I'd rather not anyone overhear what I have to say..."_

_"What's so special about what you have to say this time?" _

_"I... you will find out."_

_"Keeping this friendship of ours a secret just seems to make all of this worse..."_

_"But we're not doing anything wrong. Can I come visit?"_

Roxy paused for a few minutes before typing out her reply.

_"I suppose so. Tomorrow. What's your story?"_

_"I'm known to on occasion disappear into a far corner of the palace and tell the servants not to disturb me. I often do that when I need to think. The same will apply tomorrow then."_

Roxy looked around.

Musa and Helia were sitting close together, his arm around her, Flora and Tecna were chatting, the other men were having their own conversation and Aisha and Stella had been joined by Bloom, who was playing with a now giggling Astoria.

She looked at Sky and nodded.

He smiled.

"Oh Stella! I think Baby Tori here needs a diaper change!" Bloom handed Astoria back to her mother, shaking Roxy out of her wandering mind.

"Urgh. I think I'll let her nanny handle this one..." Stella wrinkled her nose in disgust as Astoria continued to giggle.

"Nope. I'll do it this time..." Brandon stepped up to the plate.

"You're a brave soul. I haven't been able to face the disaster zone that is Duncan's dirty diapers yet..." Riven shuddered at the thought.

"Coward..." Aisha teased.

Everyone burst out laughing.

* * *

Roxy's house was large. _Too large._

But her aunt had insisted on her having a home like this and this was the cheapest that she could get her to agree on buying without Roxy threatening to go live in a tiny apartment somewhere in a neighbourhood without "proper security". Among other things.

Six bedrooms. Six bathrooms.

What the hell was she supposed to do with all this space, living here alone?

_"Roxy, you need to understand that as a royal and especially as one that is destined to rule her realm someday, that you need accommodations to suit. I know that you will not want to live in Tir Nan Og full-time so you must have your own place. Keep in mind that you will have to have visitors over occasionally and will have to impress them. This is small compared to what I wanted you to get. Besides, you will have your own swimming pool, great views and extensive gardens, among other things that you like. So give up and accept this. Tir Nan Og's wealth has been in stasis since we were locked away. It's high time we spent some of it on something nice."'_

_"But this...?" Roxy started to object._

_"Consider it another one of our realm's assets if you won't consider it your own. It's still going under your name though..."_

"It's actually not that bad here, Roxy..." Sky looked around, apparently impressed with what he was seeing.

"Well, it's probably a run-down shack compared to your giant... _Kingly_ palace." Roxy joked.

"Mother might think so, but I don't. If you're going for tamed-down royal luxury, this is it. If my mother ever had a hand in purchasing an alternate home for me, she would probably pick one with twenty bedrooms, bathrooms and at least fifty servants on standby..."

Roxy gasped in mock horror. "The... the horror!"

"I know. I don't need more than I have. It's already more than enough..." Sky sat in the sofa and Roxy sat next to him.

"Well then. What is it that you wanted to talk about this time?"

"Bloom wants children..."

"And you need to talk about this with me... _because?_"

"Ever since Duncan and especially Astoria were born, she's wanted them even more. We've been married for a bit now and yet... no baby..." Sky looked down, looking awkward.

"You don't think... that one of you might have... _issues,_ do you?" Roxy asked, patting Sky's back.

"I... I don't know. If I so much as even hint at that with Bloom, she goes ballistic. She's determined... as you say here on Earth... 'hell or high water' to have a baby of her own..."

"What about you? Wouldn't you need an heir to Eraklyon's throne as well?" Roxy asked.

"There's that too... Mother is getting impatient with me. She says that I need to hurry up and continue the royal line..."

"I would hardly think that when you and Bloom have children that it would be any of her business..."

"Yes, but she wants to see a new Eraklyonese heir before she dies... And she's a typical aspiring grandmother in a way..."

"Ah. I used to think that Manuel would be the one to help me with the babymaking, but that turned out not to be the case. Last I heard, he's moved on with some woman from his home realm..."

"Both of us want kids someday and yet... we can't seem to get them, do we?" Sky laughed bitterly.

"Never say never Sky." Roxy smiled encouragingly at him.

"Roxy... You've been a great friend to me all these years in your own way. You're... _different_ to all the others..."

"I pride myself on being different and original." Roxy smirked.

"You're a beautiful girl, Roxy. A beautiful woman and you always have been. You'll find someone one day, in time..."

"I know. I..." Roxy's eyes widened as Sky kissed her.

And she found herself kissing back.

_Bloom..._

"What the hell, Sky?!" Roxy scooted away from him on the sofa.

"I... I'm sorry, Roxy! I didn't mean to! I don't know what came over me..."

"You need to go!" She pointed towards the door.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I..." Sky held her hands and kissed her again gently.

Roxy's mind started to cloud up. Damn, Sky was a good kisser. But she... she couldn't... Not with him...

"No, Sky... We can't. No. I'd feel like total crap if I ever... betrayed Bloom like that." Roxy shoved him away gently and turned away, feeling herself turn red.

"You're right. I need to go before we..."

Roxy turned around to look at him right in the eye.

"I'm sorry Roxy. I really am." Sky apologised, though to Roxy, he didn't _look_ very sorry at all.

That look in his eye. It was the same. Like her ex-boyfriend before he... before... they...

_No, no, no..._ Her mind wasn't supposed to venture into such places when it came to Sky... He was Bloom's man, not hers...

Bloom was lucky to have him. Sky wasn't a bad looking guy. And he was brave, noble... and _oh-so-damn-attractive..._

She closed the space between them and threw her arms around his neck, taking him by surprise as she kissed him deeply.

And he kissed back just as deeply as the two fell back onto the sofa, him on top of her.

"But... Sky, this is wrong... this is _oh so..._ _wrong..._" Roxy went silent as Sky went in for a long, lingering kiss on her collar.

"I don't care, Roxy." Sky breathed as they broke apart.

"But... You're a married man, Sky! And a King at that! And I'm Crown Princess of Tir Nan Og! If this ever got out..." Roxy felt the heat spreading through her body as Sky kissed her again.

_Is this what Bloom and Sky got up to behind closed doors?_

"But it won't, so we won't have to worry..." Sky smiled the smile that Roxy had come to love and hate at the same time.

She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his lips closer to her chest and moaned.

_"Sky... I... we..."_ Roxy could hardly think straight, far less form coherent sentences.

_"Shh..." _Sky put a finger to his lips as he picked her up with no effort at all and carried her into her room upstairs.

Sky gently tossed her into the large queen-sized bed, and continued his sensual exploration of her body.

Before her thoughts were completely clouded by lust, she found herself briefly wondering how she had come to be in this situation, but briefly forgot all else as she let the animal inside her take over.

* * *

Roxy awoke completely naked the next morning in a tangle of sheets.

Glancing over to the other half of her bed, she looked at the form of the Eraklyonese king.

Running her fingers through his hair lightly, she swung her legs around to get out of bed.

His hand reached out and grabbed her wrist lightly.

"Don't go yet." He pleaded with her gently. "Last night was... great. I can't go back and face Bloom yet though. _Not now..._"

"I have to, Sky. And you need to go, before Bloom comes looking for you. No one can find out what we did well into this morning. _No one!_" Roxy wrenched her wrist from Sky's grip and got up.

"They won't. I don't plan on telling anyone and obviously you don't plan on doing that either..." He pointed out softly.

"I'm not worried about just anyone. I'm worried about your wife, aka the Keeper of the Dragon's Flame in particular! She'll roast us alive if she found out!" Roxy exclaimed. "I mean, last night... this morning was... the sex was amazing and I had fun, but it was... _wrong... _We betrayed Bloom together in the worst way possible and somehow I don't feel all that guilty about doing it... That makes it even worse!"

"But... She _won't_ know, will she?" Sky smiled again and walked over to her.

"Sky... You _really_ need to go..." Roxy insisted. _"We can't..."_

Sky kissed her, running his hands down her sides and sending shivers down the animal fairy's spine.

She let him deepen the kiss and they soon fell back into bed again.

"Sky... I..." Roxy stopped talking as Sky trailed kisses down her neck.

"_She won't know, Roxy..."_ Sky whispered in her ear.

Roxy pulled him closer to her and kissed him passionately.

"You're right, Sky... _She won't..._"


	2. Blurred Lines

Sky couldn't believe what he had just done.

Him... and Roxy... They'd... He'd...

_Oh dear Dragon..._

Good thing it was night here in Eraklyon. And late night at that. When he'd left Roxy, it was early morning in that part of Earth.

But now, the Eraklyonese palace grounds were silent as late night arrived.

He walked around the gardens, trying to enjoy their beauty, but his mind kept wandering off to another kind of beauty altogether...

Roxy.

She was a beautiful young woman. There was no denying that. She was easy to get along with, lively, a good person and a good friend.

Sky snorted. Friends don't do what he and Roxy had been doing...

Friends don't betray friends like that...

Roxy was a good friend of Bloom. While she wasn't a Winx Club level friend, they were still very close.

Though Sky wondered how close they would remain if Bloom found out...

And his marriage... He couldn't put all the blame of what he and Roxy had done on her... No... He was to blame too... In fact, probably even more than she since he was the one who... who... _seduced _her...

Bloom... He'd betrayed his wife in the worst way possible. When he'd married her, he saw a perfect life with her. A happy marriage, a prosperous kingdom, an heir or two or by now...

But no. That was not to be...

Now his and Roxy's... _unusual friendship _had beyond that...

Lines were blurred. Now he no longer knew where he stood with her. What was he to her now? They'd both gotten caught up in the moment. Gotten carried away with what they were doing...

He was supposed to be an honourable, upstanding king. A role model for his people. How could he be that king if he had done such a dishonourable thing?

His hands brushed against a flower, tugging it loose from its stem and he glanced at it.

It was the same shade of pink Roxy's hair was. The same hair that he'd just run his fingers through as she ran her fingers through his...

He glanced at the flower for one more moment and tossed it aside, not looking back as it floated gently to the ground.

* * *

"Good morning, Sky. Did you get done what you wanted to do yesterday?" Bloom asked cheerfully as her husband entered the dining room and allowed the servants to start serving his breakfast.

He'd done more than that, but he wasn't about to let his wife know that, of course...

"Ah... Yes, yes I did." Sky shook his head, trying to clear it of the images of intertwined bodies on cotton sheets, lips against lips, crossing boundaries between friendships...

"Well then, what's on your personal agenda for today? I know you don't have any scheduled political or otherwise appointments for today..." Bloom said.

"That's true...Why don't we just spend the day together, huh?" Sky smiled at his wife.

"That sounds like a good idea. And we haven't played host to our friends in a long time. When do you think we could fit in a dinner with them?" Bloom asked.

_Friends? _

When Bloom said that, it always included Roxy. He wasn't ready to face the Fairy of Animals yet.

Not now.

In fact, he wasn't sure he could _ever_ face her again.

But sooner or later he would have to.

Preferably later.

"I'm not sure. I'd have to check my schedule..." Sky's focus appeared to shift more to his food than his wife and her... _friend _at this point.

"Later. I'll check later after breakfast, Bloom. Just to be sure we don't clash. You should do the same. Especially as you also have some responsibility for Domino, even though Daphne is Crown Princess..."

"I see your point." Bloom nodded, returning her focus to the food in front of her as well.

* * *

Sky sat at his desk in his office a few days later, going through some documents.

Keeping himself busy helped keep his mind from wandering. Wandering to places that it shouldn't have. Just like his hands had...

"No, no, no, Sky. You have work to do. Don't go back there, Sky. That is the last thing you need right now..." He told himself.

He continued to work in silence. Letters from other rulers that needed to be acknowledged, potential contracts, a request from the Eraklyon Institute for him to come and speak for their 500th anniversary celebrations...

"So much to do, so much to do... _Good._"

Then _of course_ his personal phone would just have to ring...

"Please don't let it be Roxy..." Sky practically prayed to the Great Dragon that it wouldn't be her.

He glanced at the caller ID.

_"Dammit."_

It _was_ Roxy.

Should he answer or should he not answer?

He'd faced scarier foes than her and technically, Roxy wasn't a foe. He knew that for sure at least.

Oh no she wasn't...

He smiled at the thought of what they had gotten up to.

It certainly was fun, even though it was wrong...

As his thoughts wandered off, the phone rang off.

After a while of his mind wandering off to where his hands (and certain _other_ parts of his body) had wandered with Roxy, he realised that the phone's ringing had stopped and sighed.

"I know I can't avoid you forever, Roxy. I'm sorry, but for all the things we've been through, I just don't know about this situation..." He held his head in his hands.

"My mind is completely off this work right now. I'll have to take a walk. Maybe go call Brandon and have a chat for old times' sake..." Sky got up from his seat and neatly arranged the work he had left to do for convenience when he returned to it.

* * *

"Welcome everyone! I'm so glad you could find time to come!" Bloom beamed at the Winx, Roxy and the men that accompanied most of them.

"Me too! I played host last month, so it's about time you do!" Stella exclaimed.

"Stella! Looking _fabulous,_ as always!" Bloom moved to hug her best friend. "How's Astoria?"

"Still a little sweetheart and still gorgeous. Just like her mother." Stella laughed. "I hate having to leave her, but_ my_ mother says that it'll get easier as she gets older and I learn to balance royal duties with motherhood. Despite what the tabloids might say, I am _not_ and I do _not_ want to be the kind of princess that lets the nannies do all the mothering..." The Solarian princess scowled briefly but soon bounced back.

Sky watched all of this amusedly, until his eyes made four with Roxy's and she looked away, but not before he spotted... what was it? Nervousness? Guilt? A bit of anger?

He supposed she _was_ justified in feeling the last one. It had been a month since they'd last seen each other and... did what they did and he'd completely ignored her. Avoided her. No calls, no emails, texts or even a postcard. He'd avoided her as much as he could all this time, but of course, he knew this would come eventually...

"It's such a nice day outside today. Can't we spend it in the gardens today?" Flora asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"I don't see why not, Flora. There are places that we can just sit and relax in the garden after all..." Sky agreed.

"Wonderful idea, Flora! I'll let the servants know..." Bloom took out her phone and made a brief call.

"Now that that's taken care of..." Bloom hung up the phone and took Sky's hand- something that he noticed, was eliciting the same mixture of feelings in Roxy's eyes that he'd seen earlier.

"... let's just go relax and try to forget about being royals, guardians, entrepreneurs/inventors, entertainers, vet school students... whatever."

"Amen to that! I love my work and everything, but even I need some time to just chill!" Musa agreed.

"I've just been_ looking_ at the books I'll have to study come next month and I thought learning magic was hard at first..." Roxy sighed.

"You're a smart girl, Roxy. Or a smart woman, rather. You'll be fine!" Tecna reassured her.

Roxy looked at Sky at those words and he could see that she was wondering if she was really as smart as Tecna claimed.

"Come on! The western end of the gardens is my favourite!" Bloom led them away.

_"There's something that hasn't changed between us at least. The western end of the gardens is still my favourite too..."_ Sky thought.

* * *

_"You do realise that you can't avoid me forever, right?"_

Roxy's text message lit up his phone.

He sighed as he texted back.

_"Yes, but how am I supposed to approach it? I slept with a good friend of my __**wife,**__ who happened to be a good friend of mine as well and this is one of the few times in my life that I have no clue what to do now!"_

_"Ignoring me is __**not**__ what to do, Sky."_

Sky glanced up from his phone to see the Earthling fairy with her eyes narrowed at him.

_"Fine. I'll come over again tomorrow and we can talk this out. See where we stand."_

_"Very well. See you at 6 PM, my time. I'll be waiting."_

Sky saw Roxy turn off her phone and put his away as well.

He looked around and saw Stella glancing at her own phone.

"Well, what do you know? Nova sent me a message saying that _our dear old friend _Queen Diaspro of Isis had her baby. Or rather... _babies._ Twins. A boy and a girl. Good for them, though I don't know which man in their right man would want to marry _her_ anyway..." Stella commented.

"Hell has no fury like a woman scorned!" Flora reminded them. "Though in this case, she took her fury a bit _too_ far..."

"Let's not even talk about Diaspro, Kenneth or their progeny. That would be a mood killer." Bloom said darkly.

_"Indeed since the one person you hate the most (Trix aside) has what you want the most. A family..."_ Sky thought.

* * *

"I'm here now, Roxy. I'm not avoiding you anymore. I won't avoid you anymore." Sky said as he entered Roxy's home.

"You also promised to "forsake all others" when you married Bloom, so I'm not about to hold you to that." Roxy noted wryly.

"I know... so... Roxy... what are we? Ever since we... we..." Sky trailed off.

"_...had sex, _Sky. We had sex. We were supposed to be friends and we had sex. You're married and the woman you're married to is a good friend of mine. End of story." Roxy rolled her eyes.

"Well, yes... But... where do I stand with you, Roxy? I do care about you, but... and I think you're gorgeous, but I don't know if I can carry on like this... It feels so wrong just to be here talking to you after what we've been up to..." Sky said hesitantly.

"But like you said, Bloom doesn't have to know. Or anyone else for that matter. This is _our little secret._" Roxy pressed against him and touched her fingers lightly to his lips.

"If I weren't with Bloom..." Sky started, but Roxy silenced him with a kiss, trailing her fingers down his chest and stopping just short of his waistband.

"But you're not with her here and now, are you? And that's what matters. This doesn't mean anything. It doesn't have to. We're not in love. Far from it. All that matters is that we're two adults here. _Alone._ Forget blurring the lines. We've already broken them." Roxy sauntered away from him and leaned in the doorway.

"There's... a lovely Jacuzzi tub upstairs that we didn't get to try the last time. Do you want to... _help me try it out?_" She beckoned to him with a come-hither look in her eyes.

"I think... that I would like to help you try that out, Roxy..." In a few quick strides, he caught up to her and lost himself in her, forgetting about all else.

"I think... that I'm going to have to have a few more private meetings with the Princess of Tir Nan Og..." Sky leaned against Roxy in the Jacuzzi, thick, scented bubbles the only thing hiding their nakedness as their clothes were scattered all across the bathroom floor.

"I can accommodate that. This is so much more entertaining than regular political meetings..." Roxy smiled as she ran her hand down his well-muscled chest and it went beneath the water.

"But that last meeting wasn't nearly enough to... satisfy all the parties involved, it looks like..." Roxy smirked at his expression.

"Well then, I guess we need to work on that, don't we?" He kissed her again, letting himself go again completely.

This was wrong. Sky knew that it was... But he started it... and anyway, didn't Roxy make the point that they had already crossed the line... completely obliterated them, rather? What did it matter now what they did?

As long as it remained their little secret, everything would be fine.


	3. Picture Perfect

"Look! It's Princess Roxanne!"

"Here, on campus!"

"The rumours are true! She's here!"

Roxy sighed as she walked across the campus of UCLA.

She'd been here for two weeks already and the campus populace _still _couldn't seem to get over themselves.

At a university located in an area where many famous people lived and worked, you'd think they'd be used to it by now, but no.

Probably was due to the fact the Princess of the Earth Fairies after all...

She would just have to get used to it, but that didn't mean that she'd have to like it...

Is this what the Winx Club had to put up with back in Magix?

Well then, these people obviously had nothing better to do with their time...

She found a bench under a tree and sat there to do some cursory reading of the textbooks she had just gotten out of the library.

_"This had better be worth it to become a veterinarian in the end..."_ She thought.

But it _would_ be worth it in the end.

She thought of Artu, her faithful dog. She had had him for as long as she could remember. He'd died only a few months ago.

She smiled at the memories she had with him.

It would definitely be worth it in the end if her veterinary medicine degree enabled her to lengthen the amount of time that people could spend with the animals in their lives...

After about an hour of browsing through the books, she decided to head home.

_"Home..."_ Roxy smirked to herself. Home had been much more... _lively_ lately.

Friends With Benefits relationships tended to do that.

Never mind that the... _friend_ in question was someone else's husband...

To think that years ago, when she first met Sky- and Bloom- a thought like that would have _never _crossed her mind.

She didn't see him as anything more than Bloom's boyfriend. In fact, sometimes, she had felt a bit intimidated by him. Bloom and Sky had looked like the perfect power couple. She, a powerful fairy princess, he the Crown Prince of a rich and powerful realm...

Not to mention that they were both good-looking people...

They were the quintessential picture perfect couple.

Though since Roxy had recently had discovered just how good-looking Sky_ really _was, she knew better. They weren't the perfect couple that everyone thought they were at all...

She got up and gathered up her books to head home.

But wait.

She suddenly felt hungry.

Very, _very_ hungry.

For a double bacon cheeseburger from the nearest McDonalds...

Which was odd since one, she was vegetarian and two, she usually _hated_ McDonalds food...

* * *

"Hey, Claire! how are you?" Roxy greeted a blonde-haired, grey-eyed young woman outside the library. Claire had been walking past, while Roxy had been coming out of the library.

"I'm okay." Claire said quietly.

"Listen. I'm having a good friend over to my house for the weekend. Care to join us?" Roxy smiled.

"Me? But you've barely known me for a few weeks!" Claire exclaimed.

"So? I like you and you seem like a fun person to hang out with..." Roxy shrugged.

"Nobody's ever said that about me before..." Claire's eyes seemed glued to the pavement as she spoke.

"All you need is a bit of confidence. You got into one of the best schools in the state- the country, didn't you? You're studying to be a vet too, even though you're just an Undergrad Sophomore... You've got plenty to be confident about!"

"I... I suppose so. I'll come, I guess..." Claire said reluctantly.

"Good. I can come pick you up from the dorms, if you like..." Roxy offered.

"Sure. I hear that magical parties always have something interesting happening at them..." the blonde smiled slightly.

"Not so much a party as it is an extended sleepover, but I'm sure it'll be interesting nevertheless." Roxy smiled. "Especially with the friend in question over..."

"Now, I've got to go. I really need to go catch up on my rest. The semester's just started and already I feel like I'd like to sleep forever..." Roxy yawned.

"Then go before you collapse on the sidewalk!" Claire giggled and shoved her away.

* * *

"This place is amazing, Roxy!" Claire looked around in awe at the giant house.

"And it's all mine. Thanks to my aunt, anyway. I've kinda gotten used to it by now, but I didn't even want it at first..."

"You have a pool right? I love swimming..." Claire asked eagerly.

"Yeah, I do. Right in the back. I'll give you the grand tour of the place first!" Roxy was about to move off when a flash of blue-green light appeared in the living room and with it, Princess Krystal of Linphea.

"Hello, hello!" Krystal waved. "Who's your other friend, Roxy?"

"Krystal, I'd like you to meet Claire. She's a student at UCLA too. Claire, I'd like you to meet my good friend and former Alfea College roommate Crown Princess Krystal of Linphea. Don't let her scare you. She's mostly harmless." Roxy introduced them.

_"Mostly?"_ Claire shook Krystal's hand hesitantly.

"Pretty much. Nice to meet you, Claire..." Kyrstal beamed.

"Now. We're going to relax and have a nice weekend in. All supplies are in this house. Food, activities and of course, you've both brought over your own personal stuff..." Roxy said.

"Weren't you about to give me the tour of your... is this a house or a mansion?" Claire looked around.

"A hansion." Roxy answered with a straight face.

Claire giggled.

"Now come. We don't have all weekend to just be standing around here..."

* * *

"You both seem to have such easy lives. So perfect. Both of you are Crown Princesses so you know what your future is like for certain, you don't have to worry about money and whether or not you'll be able to find the money to pay tuition fees... Not to mention the fact that you two are both really pretty and I'm... just ordinary. I envy you." Claire confessed.

"We might seem perfect, but we all have flaws- as much as I hate to admit it." Krystal said.

"I wasn't always this confident in myself either. Before I found out that I was a fairy, I always used to get along with animals better than people. Granted, I still kind of do, but I'm better with people now..." Roxy shrugged.

"And as Crown Princess, you have to put up with going to boring political meetings you'd rather not..." Krystal said.

"Putting up with downright unpleasant royals that you'd like to toss to Cthulhu..." Roxy added.

"Rules and regulations of being _a proper princes..._"

"You can never mess up or the public will have your hide..."

The last point was _especially_ important to Roxy, considering what she had going on behind the scenes that she hoped no one would _ever_ find out about.

That secret was going to go with her to the grave if she could help it...

"Well, when you look at it that way..." Claire looked unsure.

"Believe me. If a royal makes a mistake, however small, the media will make it look as if we slaughtered a whole village of cute babies and puppies..." Roxy said. "I've known I was a royal for only a few years and I know this well..."

"Such pleasant imagery there, Roxy. Pleasant imagery indeed..." Krystal grimaced.

"But oddly appropriate if you go by what the media is usually like, even here on Earth..." Claire pointed out.

"You see, Claire? Being a royal has its advantages, sure. But it also has its disadvantages. Everyone expects you to be perfect and you can _do no wrong..._" Roxy said.

You had to be absolutely perfect.

Every time you appeared in public, you had to look like nothing was wrong. You had to look flawless. You had to look confident. You had to look like you knew what you were doing.

And you certainly had to look like you were _not _sleeping with your friend's husband.

_Especially _when that friend pretty much helped to save your life on many occasions in the past, among other things...

No flaws allowed.

And especially in the position that she was in.

She is the Crown Princess of Tir Nan Og.

She is the one that will have to be at the forefront of magic's return to Earth.

Even in Magix, where magic had never died out, she was seen as a special figure because of it. First Earth-born fairy in centuries and their princess at that?

Alfea College for Fairies might have been used to playing host to a veritable array of nobility of all ranks, but even they had to admit that she was a _special _case...

"Hey! Earth to Roxy! You there?" Krystal waved her hand in Roxy's face, snapping her out of her trance.

"Oh...? Oh yeah. I'm fine. I'm absolutely fine." Roxy said, somewhat distantly.

"One would think that your mind is back in Tir Nan Og. Or perhaps Magix, even." Claire smiled.

"Maybe it is," the Fairy of Animals mused. "but I'm back now. How about that swim you were asking about earlier?" She stood up.

"Good idea. Gives me a chance to show off my brand new designer swimsuit..." Krystal got up and rummaged around in her unpocketed, unshrunk bags.

"And I'll be upstairs..." Roxy trotted up the staircase.

* * *

"Memories, memories..." Roxy glanced at the Jacuzzi tub and a smirk formed on her face.

Then she found herself yawning uncontrollably.

"Why have I been so tired lately? It doesn't make sense! I study hard, but I haven't been staying up too late... even on nights when Sky comes over..."

"I'd love to take a nap right now, but I can't. Krystal and Claire are waiting for me downstairs..."

As she changed into her bikini, she glanced at her reflection in the mirror.

"Is it me or do my boobs look bigger? Feel bigger too..." Roxy adjusted the top.

Grabbing up some pool supplies she'd had stashed in her room, she ran down the stairs and out to the pool area.

"This is nice. Just relaxing and forgetting about being royal for once..." Krystal floated past her.

"Yep. No official business to deal with this weekend and I refuse to look into a textbook until it's over!" Roxy laughed as she cannonballed into the pool, completely drenching Claire from the resulting splash, who was simply reclining in a pool chair.

"SORRY!" Roxy didn't sound sorry in the slightest as she watched Claire sputter and cough.

"You don't sound sorry at all.." Krystal swam up to her, giggling as she watched Claire sputter and cough.

"You got me!" Roxy laughed.

Krystal examined her for a moment. "Roxy, did your boobs get bigger?"

Roxy raised an eyebrow. "Why would you notice the size of my boobs?"

"I haven't forgotten the time Kyral got us all drunk in our Junior year. Griselda was so pissed off..." Krystal giggled.

Roxy grimaced at the memory. "I'd rather you forgot..."

"So... did you get a boob job or did you find some spell? I hear those things are _very_ popular in this part of Earth..." Krystal asked, waving a hand dismissively at Roxy's previous statement.

"KRYSTAL!"

"That's my name. Don't wear it out!" Krystal grinned.

"You can be so perverted sometimes!" Roxy exclaimed.

"Theo doesn't seem to mind that." Krystal's grin got even bigger.

"That I did _not_ need to know..." Roxy swam over to a smaller, circular section of the pool and stepped over the steps separating it from the rest of the pool.

"What's all the ruckus about?" Claire swam over.

"Roxy got a boob job..." Krystal said with a straight face.

"I did not, Krystal!" Roxy exclaimed exasperatedly.

"You know, you _do_ look a little bigger than when I first met you in August. And it's nearly October now..." Claire mused.

"Not you too..." Roxy groaned.

"If it's not a boob job, then what is it?" Krystal asked.

"Could be the way she's eating lately..." Claire turned to Krystal. "You know, I've actually seen her eating a meat feast pizza from Pizza Hut? I'd gone there to pick up some lunch of my own and she'd ordered a whole large one! I saw her eat the entire thing in her car!"

"No way! Roxy, aren't you supposed to be vegetarian?" Krystal looked shocked.

"Yeah, but I can't help it! I've had all these weird cravings lately for things I wouldn't normally eat. And I've been more tired than usual lately..." Roxy shrugged. "Maybe I just have to adjust to school..."

"Or maybe you need to go see an OB/GYN..." Claire remarked.

Roxy froze.

_"No. No way..."_ She thought. _"Nope, nope, no..."_

"No way! She'd totally tell me if she was seeing someone!" Krystal exclaimed, startling Roxy out of her thoughts.

"Secret boyfriend, huh? Looks like Roxy's been letting the animal inside loose!" Claire giggled.

"That was so lame, Claire!" Roxy splashed them both. "I didn't get knocked up!"

"She's right. She's just getting fat, is all." Krystal snorted.

"I ought to find a portal spell to send you back to Linphea right now." Roxy muttered.

"Relax, Roxy! It's all in good fun!" Krystal exclaimed.

"She's right, you know. You invited me over to have fun and I must say, I actually am having fun!" Claire giggled.

"Good to hear." Roxy smiled back.

Though there were some reservations in the back of her mind.

Claire's suggestion had been made in jest, but could it have merit to it?

Could she be... She'd never used any kind of protection with Sky, after all. Which was _really,_ really stupid of her...

She wasn't pregnant.

No way.

She _really_ couldn't afford to be pregnant.

Not now.

Not for Sky.

That would be the worst possible thing to happen to her.

But maybe... Maybe she shouldn't bother worrying about it. Maybe it was the effect of school stress.

Life as she knew it would come to an end if it wasn't.

* * *

Almost as soon as Krystal and Claire had left, Roxy got to work.

Disguising herself as a blue-haired, blue-eyed petite woman with a slight tan, she then made a portal to Magix.

"Pharmacy, pharmacy... There was one inside Magix Mall..." She bustled towards the mall and once inside, barely took notice of anything else, save for an ATM she passed on the way to the pharmacy.

_"Good thing I had some extra Magix Credits on me. It would look odd if Princess Roxanne's card had a withdrawal in this disguise- or I used the card to buy pregnancy tests at a pharmacy- disguise or not..." _She thought as she crossed the threshold of the pharmacy.

"_Aisle 6, Aisle 6..._ There we go!" She darted forward.

"The irony that they put the contraceptives in the same aisle as the pregnancy tests is not lost on me..." Roxy murmured.

"I'll say..." A tall, lanky, green-haired witch with features that vaguely reminded Roxy of Native American tribes back on Earth joined her in perusal of the shelves.

"Hey, Lucy. You picked one yet?" A purple-haired man even taller than the witch walked over.

"Yeah." Lucy smiled at him and picked one off the shelf. "Let's go see if we were successful, Bishop..." The two walked off hand in hand.

_"Lucky them. They actually __**want **__her to be pregnant..." _Roxy grumbled.

After a few more minutes, Roxy sighed.

"What the hell. Might as well get one of each, just to be sure..." Roxy swept at least eight different boxes into her basket.

She ignored the stares that she got from others around her as she headed to the self checkout line and processed her load.

Grabbing the bags of pregnancy tests, she hustled back to the area she'd first appeared in Magix in and made a portal back home.

* * *

"No. No, no, no, no, no..." Roxy sunk to the floor of the bathroom as she glanced at the screen of the last pregnancy test she'd used.

The boxes of all the others were scatted across the white tile floor.

_Positive, positive, positive, positive, positive, positive, positive..._

The last test she held in her now quavering hands also read positive.

They were all unanimous.

She was pregnant.

She didn't have any morning sickness before now, but she began to feel ill at the very though.

_Pregnant._

Oh dear Dragon, no...

"What am I going to do? How am I going to tell my parents, my aunt... _Sky...?_" She wondered anxiously.

"No... What will the Winx think of me? And Bloom... Oh dear God, no..." Roxy held her head in her hands and cried.

"How could I have been such a moron?"

There were spells she'd have to research first. She'd heard some of the girls at Alfea talking about them. Some that could give you an _exact_ date of conception, some that could employ illusions to hide the growing baby bump...

She'd even heard a rumour of a Senior that had actually used the last one to conceal her pregnancy from the staff- at least until _after _she graduated...

She couldn't do anything rash now.

Well, at least, not even moreso than she'd already been doing...

Research and more confirmations first.

_Then_ she'd tell Sky and her family.

Maybe then, she could keep the illusion of perfection that people seemed to have of her up a little while longer.


	4. Reality Knocks

"Isn't it great? Tecna and Timmy are _finally_ getting married in just two weeks!" Bloom exclaimed happily as she looked through her closet for something to wear to the wedding, which as the closet was of the large, walk-in type, included many more selections than the average woman would have.

"Yeah. Took them long enough. The last of the surviving "Winx Original Couples" to tie the knot." Sky scoffed at the title that the media had given him and Bloom, Brandon and Stella and Tecna and Timmy.

"All we need now is to find out who Flora's been seeing and I'll be good..." Bloom took a few of the dresses out and made them float in front of her as she began to examine them side by side.

"Indeed... I'll go see about my own attire for the wedding now. Since we're not matching, it makes this easier..." Sky left his wife's quarters and headed for his own.

_"This will be the first public event that Roxy and I will be at since... or at least the first event even since we... that the Winx, the other guys, she and I won't be the only ones there..." _Sky thought as he walked. _"I wonder if she can keep the charade up..." _

He swung open the doors to his quarters a few minutes later and sunk into a plush armchair.

"This... this is wrong. This is so wrong... But... I can't even justify it. I won't even try. This is my one vice. A rather grandiose vice, but _still..._" he sighed.

"Maybe I should check on her. I haven't talked to her in two weeks... I think she's avoiding me now like I did after we first... I wonder if she's okay..." he headed to his personal office within the chambers.

Sitting back in his chair, his eyes kept glancing at the phone on his desk.

Should he or shouldn't he?

He reached for the phone and did the necessary connections to call Earth and then specifically, Roxy's house.

_One ring, two rings, three rings... _He was almost convinced that Roxy would not answer the phone, until she finally did- on the last ring.

_"Hello, Sky..."_ Roxy looked (and sounded) irritable.

"What's the matter with you? You sound _upset..._" Sky asked in concern.

_"Just a little under the weather recently. That and school can really take a lot out of you..." _the animal fairy grumbled.

"You okay otherwise though? Do you want me to come visit? Just hang out? No sex this time?"

_"I'll pass on that. Every time you or I says that we aren't going to, we end up fucking anyway. Besides, I need to find a suitable dress for Tecna and Timmy's wedding. Even though it's only two weeks away, I __**still **__haven't found something suitable..." _Roxy muttered.

"I haven't found what I want to wear either. I have plenty of things here I've never worn though, so that shouldn't be a problem..." Sky shrugged.

_"Fashion is the least of our problems now though. This will be the first time since we... well you know... that all of us will be somewhere where it isn't just us. Not just the Winx and you guys, but... __**everyone.**__ Even the Zenithian media!"_

"We're both royals, Roxy. Your training might have been shorter than mine since what happened to your mother and aunt did, but you've learnt how to keep knowledge that you don't want the public to know out of their hands too, right? I've thought of that as well..." he said.

_"Yeah, but hiding what we've been doing is about to get a whole lot harder..." _Roxy muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Sky raised an eyebrow.

_"Nothing for you to worry about, yet..."_

"Nothing for me to worry about... _yet?_ Why should I be worried?"

_"You don't worry yourself until I get official confirmation..."_

Sky started to look suspicious at this statement from Roxy.

"Official confirmation of _what?_" he narrowed his eyes at the fairy's projection.

_"Then again, if eight different tests all agree..." _Roxy muttered to herself, seemingly ignoring him.

"Roxy, what are you talking about?"

Her eyes widened.

_"Nothing, nothing! Gotta go! We can talk later..."_

Before Roxy ended the call, she started to look slightly nauseous, as if she was about to throw up.

"Roxy? Roxy!"

Sky put his head in his hands and sighed as her projection disappeared.

"She is hiding something from me, but what?" he wondered aloud.

He had a bad feeling about it, but shook it away. Roxy was just a little under the weather is all. Nothing more to it. As soon as she was better, it would be business as usual.

* * *

About a week had passed since that last conversation with Roxy and he hadn't heard from her since.

He supposed that she was fine, as if she had been bad off, he and Bloom would have heard of it by now, but still...

What she had told him disconcerted him. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind about it. He knew that she was hiding something from him, but he didn't know what specifically...

It was driving him nuts.

Several ideas occurred to him, but he shook them off.

Now was _not_ the time to be thinking of that, especially as he and Bloom were on an Eraklyonese royal hovercraft to Zenith to go visit Tecna and Timmy before the bachelor and bachelorette parties and the actual wedding next week, for which they'd go home and return for, since Zenith was less than five hours away by hovercraft.

It simply wouldn't do to focus on a potential marriage shattering event while his friends were getting ready to be married themselves...

"We're here!" Bloom's exclamation from beside him broke his thoughts and he glanced out through the windows.

The tall, ultra modern buildings of Zenith's capital city of Binarius greeted him. some of their spires glinting in the slight sunlight.

"Indeed we are, Bloom..." Sky held his wife close. "Let's go see how our friends are, huh?"

* * *

"D- d- d- damn. I f- f- forgot how c- cold this planet could get!" Stella's teeth chattered, even with all the (designer) winter gear she wore as she walked down the Zenithian streets with everyone else.

"It's not that bad, Stella. It's just that you're used to somewhere that's usually warm..." Brandon held his wife closer as they walked.

"And we're getting married indoors, where there'll be climate control technology at work, so everyone will be comfortable!" Timmy smiled as he put an arm around Tecna's shoulders and she leaned into him.

"Aww... You two are so sweet!" Flora cooed.

"Uh-huh... Flora, what about the mystery man you're seeing? I know Tecna gave you a plus one invite, so..." Bloom spoke from behind her and next to Sky, who she was holding hands with.

"Yah, Flora. Who is he?" Roxy asked as they reached the entrance of one of Zenith's high-end malls- their destination.

Sky's heart skipped a beat.

This was the first he heard her speak since they all got together. They'd sneak covert glances at each other, but didn't dare to speak to one another.

And when he looked her in the eye, he could see a little... _something_ there, that wasn't the cheerful face she was trying to put on.

He shook his head to clear it, just in time to hear Flora's answer.

"His name's Karel and yes, you'll finally get to meet him. He's not a very social person, but I managed to convince him to come with me..." Flora smiled.

"_Karel..._ Wasn't there a guy named Karel in our year at Red Fountain?" Sky asked.

"Yeah. Quiet guy. Kept to himself, mostly. He was okay to talk to if you ever actually met him though." Brandon shrugged.

"Would it be that same Karel, Flora?" Timmy glanced at her.

"Yeah. He told me that he was at Red Fountain in your year, but you guys never really spoke. Showed me pictures of his time there and his old gear and everything." the nature fairy beamed.

"Okay, guys. We're here. _Terabyte._ The best restaurant on this planet and this is just one of their many locations. They have private as well as public dining rooms here. We booked a private one for us. They're the ones who are going to be doing the catering for the wedding, by the way..." Tecna said.

They walked inside and were greeted by the host.

"Ah. Welcome to Terabyte. The servos will be along to take your coats, hats and other winter gear momentarily..." he bowed slightly to them.

As he spoke, several humanoid robots came over and took the winter bundling from them and put it away in their private room's storage.

When Roxy had hers off, she was revealed to be wearing an off-shoulder pale yellow floaty silk blouse and loose fitting black pants. Her hair was pulled back at the sides with little golden paw print chains.

Sky thought she looked gorgeous in that outfit. He'd love to get it off her...

But even though she looked gorgeous to him still, he could also tell that there was something... different about her...

* * *

They all laughed together and had a good time.

Even though Roxy sat across the long table from him the entire time and Bloom as right beside him, he managed to enjoy himself, rather than feel awkward.

He had to give her credit.

She could act really well.

Almost as if nothing at all was going on between them...

All this and they weren't even at the main course yet...

One of the servos from earlier came around to serve them some red wine.

Flora didn't usually drink. Though she might occasionally have some wine or champagne when out with others, she didn't like alcohol usually, so Sky wasn't surprised when she refused hers.

Musa glanced at Helia and a small smile passed between them before she too, refused hers.

Sky looked around and saw Aisha and Stella share a look as they glanced between the artistic pair. The two women smiled at one another and then at Musa, who smiled back slightly.

Hmm... What was that all about?

"No thanks. I don't need any. I'd like some juice instead, please..." Roxy put a hand over the rim of her glass as the servo approached her.

Sky raised an eyebrow at her, but she simply looked away from him.

He knew that Roxy had a collection of wines, champagnes and other forms of liquor stashed around her home.

They'd shared some during his frequent... _visits._

While she wasn't an alcoholic, he never knew her to refuse a drink...

Hey. Sometimes you just didn't feel like having a drink, even though you normally enjoyed one. It happens with other things, so why not this?

Besides, he didn't know if the others noticed it, but Roxy still looked a bit unwell.

She looked a little paler than normal and just as he'd noticed earlier, there was a distinct (at least to him!) lack of cheer in her eyes.

Something was definitely wrong with her.

And he was going to try to find out what.

But for now, he was going to keep the illusion up and continue to try and enjoy the company of his friends.

"Wait 'til we you see what we've got planned for you, Timmy..." Riven snickered.

"Yeah. Yours is going to be the best bachelor party ever, man. After mine of course." Brandon added.

"That's... that's really not necessary, you two..." Timmy insisted.

"Yes it is. With them at the helm, you're sure to have a good time, Timmy. Cool down!" Sky exclaimed.

"As good a time as you guys had at Riven's bachelor party?" Roxy raised an eyebrow, the first time she spoke to Sky directly during this outing.

Sky remembered it well. It wasn't something so easily forgotten, after all...

"And we'll be in charge of Tecna's bachelorette party! It's going to be a blast!" Stella exclaimed.

"Not as much as Riven's, I hope..." Aisha gave her husband the 'side eye'. "That was- quite literally- a blast from what I saw and heard about it..."

"Because _someone..._" Stella narrowed her eyes at Brandon. "...thought it was a good idea to spike the already alcoholic punch!"

"That reminds me. _Guys..._" Tecna started sweetly. "...on our wedding day, Timmy is to be standing at the top of the aisle, _on time,_ waiting for me. He is to be _sober._ He is to be _alert. _He is going to be standing proudly."

"His natural hair, eye and skin colours will all be as they should. _He will be suffering from no afflictions that you cause. _If that is not the case, and I have cause to be angry, it will _not _end well for you. Not even Bloom's Dragon Flame will be able to help you." she paused. "GOT IT?!" the technology fairy snarled at the men.

"We got it!" All the men (including Timmy and Sky!) gulped.

The women burst out laughing.

_"You'd better..."_ Tecna muttered darkly.

As they proceeded through the main course, Sky locked eyes with Roxy.

He held her gaze until she looked down at her plate.

"Um... Excuse me. I think I need to go to the ladies' room..." she stood up.

"I'll go with you, Roxy..." Flora stood up as well.

"Same... here..." Musa swallowed the forkful of pasta she was on.

"What is it with women going to the bathroom in groups?" Helia wondered.

"They must think they'll be attacked in there..." Timmy remarked.

"With how things used to be a few years back, that would be a distinct possibility..." Sky pointed out.

"Thank goodness those days are over! I don't know what I'd do if our precious little Astoria got up to the trouble that we did then!" Stella shuddered at the thought as Brandon squeezed her hand lightly, reassuring her.

"Those days are far behind us now, Stel. Astoria won't have to go through anything like that..." he spoke comfortingly.

"And my little boy won't have to. Pity. Would have made him tougher..." Riven remarked.

"_Riven!_ Why would you want Duncan to go through the same bullshit we did?!" Aisha narrowed her eyes at him.

"Would have made him tougher, like I said before. Him and any... _future siblings_ of his..." Riven waggled his eyebrows.

"And what makes you think that Duncan will be getting any siblings?" Aisha raised an eyebrow.

Probably knowing where that conversation was likely to lead, Helia decided to cut it off.

Sky was glad. Despite his own sexual exploits, he was _not _keen on hearing theirs.

"I'm glad that the bad guys have stopped showing up. Either that, or there are probably others out there fighting them now..." Helia said.

"The latter, most likely. More and more fairies are gaining not just Enchantix, but the higher fairy forms as well. Even the witches are behaving themselves..." Bloom remarked.

"They are not all bad, Bloom. We've met good witches in the past, remember?" Flora said as she re-entered the room, having heard the last part of the red-haired fairy's statement.

"The year that the Trix commandeered Cloud Tower as their own personal aircraft doesn't help their case, to be fair..." Tecna pointed out.

"I was friendly acquaintances with a witch when I was at Alfea. Felicia. She's Zenithian too. She was actually okay. Somewhat creepy, but okay..." Roxy added to the conversation as she too, returned to the dining room.

As she sat, her shirt shifted slightly and Sky caught a glimpse of her stomach.

It wasn't flat anymore, but had a slight swell to it.

Roxy saw him looking and pulled her shirt down to hide her bump.

It was just a food bump, no big deal, right...?

_Bump..._

Or it could be _another_ type of bump, that began with _b, _ended in _y,_ and could only be the result of when two grown adults- male and female, had sex the way they did.

Without any kind of protection whatsoever.

_A baby bump._

Roxy could be _pregnant._

With his child.

The thought hit him with more force than a fleet of hovercraft.

That could be why she seemed to be avoiding him and looking unwell recently...

Pulling out his phone and tilting the screen so that Bloom would be unable to see, he texted Roxy.

_"We need to talk."_

_"No we don't."_

_"What are you hiding from me?"_

_"Nothing you need to know about."_

_"But you ARE hiding something from me!"_

_"Like you're hiding something from Bloom?"_

Sky frowned at his phone. _"That was below the belt."_

_"That's your favourite geography, isn't it?"_

Sky could sense the snark in the last text and sighed as he put away his phone. He wasn't going to get anything out of her this way.

Besides, it would look rather suspicious, he thought, if they were always texting like this in the presence of the others.

Dessert was soon served and they all dug in with gusto.

If the food here now was like what they were going to serve up at Timmy's and Tecna's wedding, he'd go just for that.

He glanced up at Roxy, who seemed entirely focused on her peach-topped cheesecake.

Fine. Be that way. But if it was what he thought it _could_ be, she'd have to tell him eventually. There was no way that she could hide it for much longer.

* * *

"Sky, are you okay?" Bloom looked up at him, concerned, as they walked through the hangar after their return to Eraklyon.

"Huh?" he shook his head to clear it, clearly distracted.

"You've been a little... distracted lately. Is there something wrong?" she touched his arm lightly.

"No, nothing's wrong. I'm fine." he took his wife's hand and squeezed it reassuringly.

"Are you sure?"

"Absolutely." Sky helped her into the car that came to take them back to the palace.

Of course he couldn't tell Bloom that he wasn't. She'd want to know why... And what was behind that why... _oh boy..._ There was no way in Shadowhaunt that he would willingly tell her about his affair with Roxy and the possibility that he _might_ have gotten the Earthling fairy pregnant where he apparently could not with her...

Nope, not happening.

Then again, he didn't actually know that. Perhaps he was just paranoid.

Roxy wasn't pregnant. And even if she was, who's to say that...

"See? You _are_ distracted about something!" Bloom exclaimed, snapping him out of his thoughts as they arrived at the palace.

"Sorry. Work and other things I've been drowning in lately..." Sky shrugged as they crossed the threshold of the palace.

"Forget about work and focus on _us _today, huh?" Bloom moved her hand up and down his back, lightly tracing little patterns and moving it further down to give his behind a light squeeze.

"I... _my quarters or yours?_" he asked.

"Mine are closest..." Bloom giggled like a teenage girl as she took his hand and led him off.

* * *

Sex was different with his wife than it was with Roxy.

With Bloom, he made love. It was gentle and slow. With Roxy, it was just... sex. To put it bluntly, it was intimate; sensual with Bloom. With Roxy, it was purely carnal. Fucking, plain and simple.

There was no romantic love between them.

Just a near-animalistic quality of energy as they went at it. With her, it was just for fun and excitement. With Bloom, however...

He glanced at her, who was asleep next to him, naked, her red hair splayed out and contrasting against the mint green sheets.

She looked lovely.

And yet, he was cheating on her, with a friends of hers at that.

He and Roxy had sat at that dinner with their friends, bold as brass, as if nothing like this was going on between them.

It was thoughts like this that made him feel despicable.

He had fun with Roxy, but his wife was the one who really loved him.

There were kings and even queens in the past that had had their own indiscretions across all the planets and realms- including Earth- but he never saw himself joining their ranks...

Then again, ever since he first left Eraklyon for Red Fountain, he'd done a lot of things he'd never pictured himself doing- this not included...

He got up, careful not to disturb a still sleeping Bloom and pulled back on his clothes, heading straight for his own quarters.

Once back, he undressed himself again and headed for his bathtub.

He relaxed into the citrus-scented bubbles and even dozed off for a bit.

Sometime later, he finally left the bathroom and got properly dressed.

His cell phone rang, the only thing in the room making noise besides his own movements.

Roxy calling.

He decided to answer.

_"Sky, you said that you wanted to talk about us earlier and I agree. We really do need to talk. We can't let things go on like this forever..." _Roxy said.

"Now you see this? What is there for us to talk about then? Why you've been so hedgy with me lately over the past two weeks or so?" Sky asked, frowning.

_"Actually... yes." _Roxy hung her head slightly.

Sky looked a little startled by this.

_"I can't wait any longer. I've got good news and bad news. I won't talk about it over the phone. You need to come see me."_

A foreboding feeling overcame the Eraklyonese king at these words.

"When should I come?" he asked, almost apprehensively.

_"Tomorrow. It's best you know as soon as possible..." _Roxy ended the call.

"Well, that wasn't unsettling at all..." Sky muttered.

* * *

The next afternoon, just as they had agreed, Sky arrived at Roxy's home.

"I'm here now, as you can see so..." Sky said.

"Sit. You'll need to for this one..." Roxy conjured a glass of cherry juice for herself and a glass of red wine for him.

She finished her drink and then took a deep breath as she stood up from her chair.

"Like I said on the phone, I've got good news and bad news." she looked nervous as she paced up and down the living room in front of him.

"The good news?" Sky raised an eyebrow.

"You told me that you and Bloom were having problems with having children. The problem... well... it isn't _you..._" Roxy said quietly.

She let that sink in and as soon as it did, Sky's expression went from one of slight confusion and apprehension to one of complete and abject horror.

"_No..._ no way... You're not... _are you?_" Sky asked slowly.

"The bad news... I'm _pregnant,_ Sky. For you. I'm going to have a baby..." Roxy sunk into the nearest chair and held her head down with her hands over her face. "How could I have been so _stupid?_" she cried.

"It wasn't you alone, Roxy... I... _I_ started this. _I _was the one that came onto you. _I _was the one that _seduced_ you..." Sky walked over behind her chair and massaged her shoulders as the animal fairy cried.

"But I could have said no! And meant it! And not encouraged it further on my part either!" Roxy wailed.

"This is my fault. I started it!" Sky well and truly felt like a real idiot. He'd never used protection with her and now here she was, pregnant with his child. And he'd never thought to ask her if she was on any sort of birth control either...

They acted without thinking, for _fun_ and now here was the result.

The woman he was cheating on his wife with was pregnant with his child...

Not to mention the other factors coming into play here. They were both public figures. Royals. Some held them up as role models...

_"So..."_ Sky broke the heavy silence that had fallen between them. "What are you going to do?"

"_Me? _Why just me?" Roxy snapped.

"Calm down, Roxy! I mean, since you're the one who's pregnant. You'll have to deal with the majority of the fallout..." Sky held up his hands as if in surrender.

"Sorry. I... I don't know. I mean, I'm already too far into this pregnancy to do anything about it, even if I actually wanted to..."

"How far along are you?" Sky asked.

"By my calculations and matching up dates... About four months along. The little one _should _arrive in March, if we look at all that..."

"That... that would mean..." Sky worked it out in his head.

"That I probably got pregnant as a result of the first time we had sex with each other, yes..." Roxy held her head in her hands.

"When are you going to tell your family? I mean, you've been basically hiding your pregnancy from them for four months..."

"How are _you_ going to tell Bloom what you did?"

The thought of telling Bloom filled him with dread and he remained silent at these words from Roxy.

"I thought so." Roxy remarked wryly, after about a minute of silence.

"_I..._ do you know if it's a boy or girl yet?"

Roxy shook her head. "I've been to a doctor- thank goodness for those confidentiality agreements- but I haven't had _that_ particular scan done yet. Despite me finding out about the baby late, he or she is apparently doing fine in there..."

She unbuttoned her shirt and let it fall to show Sky the slight baby bump she had, rubbing it lightly.

"This is the result of our actions. I know I'll bear most of the fallout, but it's not his or her fault, you know?" she shrugged.

"You'd be a great mother, Roxy." Sky said weakly.

"I don't know about that, but I'll try. I mean, I still have school and princess duties to deal with on top of this... It's going to be a lot of work. And I don't know how to deal with a magical pregnancy! I always grew up learning about normal, non-magical ones. What changes of both mother and baby are magical? Does my magic output affect him or her? How will this work with transforming? Why did I not think to look up information about this even _before _this?"

Sky held her close to him, as if to reassure her. Even though he felt like he needed reassurance himself, she needed it much more than he did, by far.

Even if the general public never found out about him being Roxy's baby's father, she'd still take quite the beating in the court of public opinion. Society was still sexist in that way.

And if they _did_ find out about him being the baby's father, they'd still focus more on her. After all, _she _was the outside woman, sleeping with her friend's husband. Never mind that he was the one that started it all in the first place...

Here he was; a grown, educated man, king of an influential and reasonably wealthy realm and he felt clueless as to what to do in this situation.

A civil war like the one Yoshinoya had tried to cause what seemed like a few years ago seemed much easier to deal with than this...


	5. What's Done In the Dark

"Tomorrow's the big day, Tecna! How does it feel to be an almost married woman?" Musa asked her.

"I'll feel better when I'm actually married to him!" Tecna laughed.

"If you'll feel any better than you seem to be now, my guess is that Timmy's going to have a wonderful time on the honeymoon!" Roxy giggled.

"Truer words have never been spoken, Roxy! And speaking of honeymoons, your gift from me is sure to help out with making it even _more_ fun, Tecna!" Stella grinned.

Keeping up the happy façade as she attended Tecna's bachelorette party wasn't an easy thing for her, but so far, Roxy was managing.

For being nearly five months pregnant, she was hardly showing at all and she still wore casual, loose fitting clothing with no patterns or cuts that would draw attention to her growing size.

They were all still clueless to her pregnancy and she hoped to keep it that way, at least for a little while longer.

She knew that she couldn't hide it forever, but at least she could enjoy the peace she would have- even if temporary- before she had to reveal it.

Roxy was broken out of her thoughts by an exclamation from Tecna that sounded like a mixture of embarrassment and exasperation at the same time.

_"Stella!" _Tecna's face was almost as red as Bloom's hair when she pulled out an array of sex toys from the box that the Solarian princess handed her.

"_What?_ They're fun and they help make sex fun! Why are you embarrassed? Every married couple fucks and this just helps make the fucking even hotter!" Stella looked slightly tipsy as she giggled.

_"Unmarried couples do too..." _Roxy thought, rubbing her stomach idly.

"Gotta agree with Stella on this one, Tecna. Let loose and enjoy the party! It's just for you, to commemorate your last day as an unmarried woman! Make the best of it!" the Androsian princess, while nowhere near Stella's inebriated state, was still slightly under the influence.

"And speaking of that delightful activity, I've got a little something to help you out in that department too..." Aisha summoned her gift from a pile some distance away from them.

"Why all the concentration on sex? I mean, that's not the only part to marriage..." Flora said. Her gift to Tecna was much more tame than Stella's, having been a set of rare potted plants that only grew on Linphea, that were not only beautiful and had a pleasant scent to them, but also had some healing properties.

"Exactly! Besides, it's not like Timmy and I haven't... _Aisha, I'm going to put your grave right next to Stella's..._" Tecna's lifted the magical Kama Sutra book from its packaging. A book complete with full colour, illustrated, realistic pictures. That were magically animated.

Roxy chortled at the look on Tecna's face and at the sound of the animal fairy's chortling, the other women present (except for Tecna, naturally) burst out laughing too.

"You won't do that if you want to maintain the peace between Solaria, Andros and Zenith!" Bloom chuckled.

"Sets a bad precedent if Guardian Fairies murder fellow Guardian Fairies over a gift or two that was given with good intentions. Especially when the two in question are Crown Princesses of two powerful realms. Even if the gifts are pretty ribald..." Roxy smiled outwardly, but on the inside, a worrying series of thoughts occurred to her.

Suppose Bloom found out that she was pregnant with Sky's child? That the same young fairy who used to look up to her and whose life she'd helped save and helped her powers start to flourish had betrayed her in the worst possible way?

If there was ever anything to push someone to murder another... it would be something involving betrayal, jealousy and lies. And her affair with Sky definitely contained those three elements...

No. Bloom wouldn't kill her when she found out.

It wouldn't be that bad.

Her reaction wouldn't be that bad...

Would it?

She felt herself grow ill at the thought.

"Hey Roxy, you all right? You look a little ill..." Tecna's concerned voice shook the Earthling fairy loose from her morbid thoughts.

"I'm fine. Just a little off is all. I think I'll go to the bathroom..." Roxy stood up.

"I'll come with you, Roxy..." Musa stood up as well.

"You ladies keep on enjoying the party. We'll be back soon enough!" Roxy waved as cheerfully as she could before she and Musa walked away together.

* * *

"Are you sure you're okay, Roxy? I don't know if the others noticed, but you've seemed a bit off to me in the past few weeks..." Musa asked in concern once the pair was alone in the bathroom.

"Actually, I'm not okay. Far from it. I suppose you and the others will find out why soon enough though..." Roxy muttered.

Musa raised an eyebrow. "Really now? What do you have to hide? Are you sick?"

"Just... drop it please, Musa. I'd rather not talk about it. Not here, not now..." Roxy leaned against the wall and rubbed her forehead which was throbbing slightly against the cool, cream-coloured tiles.

"Fine. I guess it's none of my business anyway..." the music fairy shrugged, before retrieving a bottle of pills from her handbag, resting the bottle on the counter and conjuring a glass of water to help her take them.

Roxy glanced at the label on the bottle.

"Musa, those are _prenatal vitamins..._" she said in a strange tone.

"Yes, they are. _And..?_" Musa said.

"Are you..?"

"I am. Just don't tell any of the others. It's Tecna's time to shine right now. You can keep a secret, can't you?" Musa put her hands on Roxy's shoulders and looked her in the eyes.

_"You have no idea how true that is..." _Roxy thought, feeling nervous. "Yeah, I can. My lips are sealed. Promise." she made a zipper motion across her mouth.

"Thanks. I'm due in April, but since I'm a little bigger than my dates suggest, I'm going to have a scan done to see if we're getting a two for one special, Helia and I..." Musa smiled.

"Or more than that..." Roxy pointed out the possibility.

"Oh dear Dragon, no..." Musa looked briefly horrified at the thought, making Roxy giggle at her expression.

Talking about _someone else's _pregnancy, she could do oddly enough. Her own? Forget about it...

The door swung open suddenly and Flora ran in, looking slightly green and headed straight for the toilet.

Roxy and Musa looked at one another and ran over to help the nature fairy as she vomited up everything she had just eaten.

"Flora, you... What happened? The food disagreed with you?" the animal fairy rubbed her back soothingly.

"Everything's been disagreeing with me lately..." Flora moaned. "What's wrong with me?"

"Newly activated food allergy or you've been getting this supposedly anti-social Karel to... _socialize_ with you in a certain..._ intimate_ way..." Musa giggled.

Roxy immediately understood what Musa was implying.

_"Everyone seems to be getting knocked up these days..." _she thought.

"Who, me? Oh dear Dragon..." Flora moaned as the other two fairies helped her up.

"Yes, you. Who else did you think she meant?" Roxy smiled as Flora washed her face, pinned back her hair and neatened herself.

"We should probably get back out there before Stella..." Musa tailed off as there was a loud banging on the door.

_"Hey you three! What are you doing so long in there? Hurry up and get the hell out! The best part of this party is yet to come!" _Stella yelled.

"...comes breaking down the door..." Musa finished lamely.

Flora and Roxy laughed.

"We'd better go before she comes in and threatens us with that Sceptre of hers..." Roxy led the way out.

"Yay! You're back! The best part is just about to get here!" Stella squealed.

The doorbell went off and before Tecna could move to get it, Stella sped off faster than if she had teleported to the door.

"All bachelorette parties should have one of these!" Stella gestured to the doorway as a _very _handsome man, that in Roxy's opinion looked as if he had walked right off the cover of a Mills and Boon novel walked in. If she wasn't pregnant... _Oh boy..._

Out of the corner of her eye, Roxy saw Tecna sink down into her chair, blushing furiously.

"Stripper!" Stella exclaimed joyfully.

Roxy privately thought that Tecna looked as if she was ready to dig Stella's grave that very instant.

* * *

Roxy sat at a table with her mother, father and aunt at Tecna and Timmy's wedding reception, taking in the festivities around her.

Donning a simple, lilac, loose-fitting, drop-waisted dress and her hair pinned up into a curled hairstyle, she looked nice and the dress hid her bump well, which if you were to look at her bare stomach, was starting to become obvious.

_"Good thing I remembered that interview Stella and Brandon gave when Astoria was a month old. She actually recommended some rather stylish maternity clothes..."_ she thought.

At a nearby table, Diana, Aurora, Sibylla and Eldora sat together talking amicably and at another table, Zenith's royal family- King Cyros, Queen Andrea, Crown Princess Judith, herself due to give birth to the next in line to Zenith's throne just next month and her husband Sir Edwin sat together.

"Roxy... Are you listening?" Morgana's voice burst through her wandering thoughts abruptly.

"No." she said absentmindedly.

Nebula and Rick chuckled.

"Roxy..." Morgana started sternly and Roxy began to pay more attention to her mother.

"Why does it seem like your mind is in another dimension when I try to talk to you lately? Is everything okay?"

"I'm okay. And can we just the festivities and tal..." Roxy suddenly sneezed and her place settings flew up into the air, engulfed by light green energy and slammed back onto the table, though luckily, nothing broke.

"The hell just happened?" Roxy thought as her family at the table stared at her- as well as other people at surrounding tables.

"I don't think that qualifies as okay..." Nebula noted wryly.

"It's probably just a little cold. I'll get over it." Roxy shrugged.

_"But... I've never had that kind of reactions when I've sneezed before. Is this a magical pregnancy thing or just a general magic bug?"_ she thought, slightly concerned.

"If you're sure..." Morgana looked uncertain.

"I am. I'll just go mingle with the crowd and go get some food then..." Roxy stood up.

There was a fair amount of people around the buffet station she went to, including the servers, dressed in neat light green shirts with black cravats and black dress pants.

"Good evening, Princess. How can I help you here?" A female server asked her.

"I want some of this, this and this..." she pointed at different items.

_"Some of this salad and oh, what's this?"_ Roxy's eyes widened as she heard Bloom behind her, quizzing another server.

"It's a casserole, very popular in Guardian Fairy Tecna's home region, Your Highness. Would you care to try it?"

"Just a little, please..."

"Very well..."

Roxy shook her head to clear it and returned her attention to her server, who was looking at her expectantly.

She really had to stop letting her mind wander off...

"Oh sorry. Just this and this too, please." Roxy smiled apologetically.

As she walked away, picking at some roast fish fillet (being pregnant really _did_ make you feel really hungry...), she heard Bloom call out to her.

"Hey Roxy! Wait up!"

Roxy froze in her tracks.

"You okay? You looked a bit ill yesterday and you still look a bit off today..." Bloom asked in concern, putting a gloved hand on the younger fairy's shoulder.

The sincere look of concern on Bloom's face made Roxy feel terrible.

Her lips were still sealed though. She wasn't admitting a single thing, _especially_ here and now to her.

She didn't think that Tecna and Timmy would appreciate her ruining their wedding, after all...

"We haven't had the chance to talk one on one lately at all. How have you been?" Bloom began to walk with her, the two women both munching from their plates idly.

"Could be better. School on Earth is okay though. Challenging enough classes, made some new friends there, I still keep in contact with the friends I made while studying at Alfea..." Roxy half-shrugged.

"Then how could it be better then?" Bloom raised an eyebrow. "What could be wrong with your life then?"

"I..." Roxy paused. "A lot of little things, I guess. I got so used to living in a highly magical environment and to come back to Earth, even though it's been over a year since I've been back now and magic is slowly, but surely spreading there... And to think that I was completely against the idea of being a fairy all those years ago..." Roxy chuckled nervously, though Bloom didn't seem to pick up on it.

"I felt the same way after just one year at Alfea." Bloom smiled knowingly as the two stepped outside on a balcony and walked around it idly. "So I can only imagine how it feels for you..."

_"You can't Bloom. You really can't..." _Roxy thought. _"But only because you don't know the full story..."_

The animal fairy sneezed again, sending the bits of food on her plate into the air, which miraculously all landed back on her plate perfectly.

Bloom's eyes followed the movement of the food in surprise.

"You should probably eat that before you sneeze it all away..." Bloom giggled.

"Not a bad idea. I've already eaten a lot and I'm still hungry." Roxy admitted, eating her food in a manner that would draw disgusted looks from most people, but Bloom seemed to find amusement in.

"Zenithian food is pretty good, isn't it?" Bloom smiled.

_"This baby certainly seems to agree..."_ Roxy thought.

Pain.

Pain. A sudden flash of pain hit her, causing her to drop the plate she was holding and sway into one of the chairs on the balcony.

_"Roxy!" _Bloom dashed over to her.

"I'm fine. Just a little flash of a headache is all..." Roxy moaned, rubbing her forehead.

"Are you sure? You still don't look very well at all..." Bloom looked sceptical.

"I'll be fine." Roxy breathed heavily. "Just let me catch myself before I go back inside. I don't want to cause a scene or ruin their wedding so please don't tell anyone..." she added quietly.

_"As soon as this is over, I'm going straight home. Perhaps some rest will help me..." _she thought.

_"Well, okay..." _Bloom left her to go back inside, still looking unsure and glancing back at her as she did.

Roxy breathed heavily as she sunk further into her seat.

She really didn't feel well at all...

* * *

It had been a few days after Tecna and Timmy's wedding and she _still _didn't feel any better.

In fact, she felt worse.

Her entire body felt like dead weight when she moved, he head hurt as if someone had swung a giant hammer at it, she felt a fever coming on and her powers were completely out of whack.

Far beyond sneezing and sending things flying, she made them explode instead and the simplest of magic spells seemed to take a lot out of her.

School... She hadn't been well enough to leave the house in a few days to attend school, so she had been trying to catch up via email with some of the professors and a few fellow vet medicine majors, but it wasn't easy when you had such blinding headaches...

She tossed and turned in her bed. This illness, plus her growing size had made it difficult to sleep the previous night.

She glared out the window at the sunlight, beaming too brightly for her taste.

_"There are days that I wish that I could turn out the sun, even for just a little while..." _she grumbled.

She swung herself out of bed with some difficulty and made her way down to the kitchen.

Rummaging around in the refrigerator, she found some bananas and milk and reached for a bowl of cornflakes in the cupboard.

She had to eat lighter than she had been before. Just the _thought_ of heavy foods made her feel sicker than she already was...

Hours later, she found herself in bed again, tired enough to sleep, but somehow, not able to.

She sat up suddenly as she sensed a magical presence nearby- and instantly regretted it.

"OW!" she whined, putting a hand to her forehead, where she'd just had a sharp flash of pain. "Dammit! I forgot that Eldora was supposed to come by and help me with the magical section of the gardens this evening! Crap!" she looked out the window as the sun began to set and saw in her mind's eye Eldora, only a few feet away from the front door.

Dragging on some loose-fitting khaki pants, long-sleeved shirt and a long housecoat, not bothering to make herself look presentable otherwise, she took her time going down the stairs.

"Hey, Eldora." Roxy said flatly.

"Why, hello there, my dear! What's the matter? You don't look too well..." Eldora adjusted the basket of magical gardening supplies on her arm.

"I haven't been feeling well at all lately..." Roxy leaned against the wall.

"Yes, I did notice that you seemed a bit... off at Tecna and Timmy's wedding, even just seeing you at a distance. And that incident with your food going for a magically enhanced flight..." Eldora smiled slightly.

"Yeah, my powers have been going haywire since..." Roxy trailed off.

"Since what?" Eldora raised an eyebrow.

"I... _I really don't feel so well..._" Roxy felt herself sliding to the ground, suddenly knowing more.

* * *

_"Roxy? Roxy thank goodness you're okay!"_

Roxy barely recognized the voice, distant as it sounded.

"I... _Mom?_" Roxy struggled to open her eyes and as her vision came into focus, her mother's face hovering slightly over her own came into view.

"Thank goodness you're okay! It's a good thing Eldora was here or I don't know what would have happened to you!" Morgana hugged her daughter gently.

"Who knew that so much frequent inter-dimensional travel could have such an effect on a magical pregnancy? Kind of like un-magical pregnant women and airplane flights..." Roxy's heart sunk as she heard her father's voice speak those words.

"_Roxy..._ how long have you known that you were pregnant?" Nebula's voice was soft, yet firm.

The animal fairy sighed. "Probably around mid-September or so. I... is the baby okay? How long have I been out of it?" Roxy took in the sight of her family around her in her room.

"He's fine. And you've been out of it for four days. Eldora used some of her medicinal plants and potions to help heal you." Morgana answered.

_"He..."_ Roxy glanced down at her bump. "_He... a little boy... _A son. Mine. My son..." she murmured.

"Roxy... you do understand that when you're better, we're going to need to have some _very _serious conversations, right?" Nebula said.

Roxy sighed. "_I..._ I knew that I would have to tell you eventually. I guess I just didn't know how to. How to tell you, what you would think of me... How will this affect the royal line? I don't want the baby... him... my... _son _to suffer because of me!"

"He won't. Not if I have anything to say about it..." Nebula growled.

"I just wish you would have told us, Roxy. Were you afraid we'd disown you?" Klaus asked.

"Something like that." Roxy averted her gaze, suddenly feeling small.

"You're our daughter, Roxy. And that baby you're pregnant with is going to be our grandson. And after I was reunited with you and your father after us Earth Fairies were freed from the Black Circle's tyranny... I swore that I'd never let anything break us apart." Morgana hugged her daughter again, this time, joined by her husband.

Roxy enjoyed the family moment, knowing that that was the last bit of peace she would have for a long, long time.


	6. Partial Reveal

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you all enjoyed it! A little gift from me to you right here, in the form of this update.

You don't have to write me a story as a gift in return (though it would be nice). You know what I'd _**really**_ like as a Christmas gift?

_**REVIEWS!**_

* * *

"So... Roxy. How are you feeling? I heard you took ill the other day..." Sky said as he walked into her living room.

"_Yeah._ _Three weeks ago. After I was unconscious for four days straight and my family finally found out about me being knocked up because of that..._" Roxy grumbled, not bothering to change position from where she was reclining, facing away from him on the sofa.

"It's been crazy recently!" Sky shrugged.

"Bullshit!" Roxy finally sat up to face him.

She was wearing a simple light blue sundress with a white floral stencil design and her hair was loose.

Roxy still looked gorgeous in Sky's opinion, but the look on her face had him backing up.

"You could have at least called me. You know, I'm going to officially announce my pregnancy at the gala my aunt is hosting this weekend? Of course you would. You and your _wife _were invited!" Roxy snapped.

"I can only imagine what it must feel like. I can't really know what you're going through..." Sky's tone was apologetic.

"You're right. You can't. At least after the weekend, I can quit hiding this," she gestured to her baby bump. "and just get it over with. I can handle the backlash..."

"Handle the backlash... all on your own?" Sky looked worried.

"Better to do this on my own," Roxy sneered. "than for the public to make you out as the evil husband and me as the evil, bitchy, friendship-wrecking, man-stealing whore pregnant with your child!"

"I can see how revealing my involvement would make things worse for you, but... I don't feel right letting you be thrown out to the wolves like that! I should be able to do _something _for you and the baby..." Sky began massaging Roxy's shoulders and she relaxed somewhat.

"Massages like this are why we're in this situation in the first place..." the animal fairy sighed, briefly content.

"Uh-huh... You never did answer my original question though. How are you really? I actually wanted to find out..." Sky sat in the sofa, right next to her.

"Better, physically. The public doesn't know why I was ill yet, but they will soon. Magical pregnancies suck more than normal ones though, apparently..." Roxy relaxed, laying her head down on his lap and letting him run his fingers through her hair idly.

"I heard Stella complaining about hers too. Aisha too, but not as much as Stella..." Sky shrugged.

"Musa's doing okay so far with her twins though and Flora... early stages, but she's not doing so well, I hear..." Roxy said.

"Enough about them. What about you? How are _you _and the little one doing?" Sky reached down to rub Roxy's belly.

"Oh, our son is fine. He's going to be a strong one. I can feel it!" Roxy smiled.

Sky remained silent for a few moments.

"Son... You're having a boy?" Sky asked softly.

"Yeah, I am."

"I had wanted my first child to be a boy... A child I imagined..." Sky trailed off.

"...having Bloom as their mother instead of me?" Roxy finished for him.

"Well, yeah..."

"Sometimes things in life just don't happen the way you want them to, do they?"

"No, indeed they don't. Like all those years ago before I met you, and Bloom even... I thought that kid would have Diaspro as their mother, though I never truly loved her..."

"And look how that turned out..." Roxy remarked wryly.

"Yeah... and despite all the crazy stunts she pulled, _she _got to marry and have her own son. A daughter too, at the same time. Two for one package deal..." Sky sighed again. "and those babies will be real lookers when they get older too..."

'Yes, Caleb and Calliope have gorgeous parents. Gorgeous, but creepy as hell. They'll probably inherit the creepy trait too. Enough about them. They're not important to us now- or ever. Let's focus on the baby _we_ created." Roxy rubbed her belly.

They sat in silence for several moments, each lost in their own thoughts.

After a while, Sky broke the silence.

"So... what are you thinking of naming the little guy?" Sky eased up from the chair and knelt down as Roxy sat up, letting him caress her belly.

"I haven't thought of that yet. I was focused on the impact that announcing this pregnancy would have on my life. Names for him aren't exactly on the top of my list right now." Roxy's tone was dry.

"I see your point. But still, when the time comes for him to make his big entrance... Time flies fast. It seems like just the other day, I met you all those years ago in Gardenia. And now..." Sky trailed off.

"...and now, you've gotten me pregnant while being married to Bloom. Time flies indeed." Roxy rolled her eyes.

"Didn't seem like that when we were having sex though. I felt like I could do that with you forever..." Sky smiled wistfully at the thought.

"Hardly felt like forever on my end." Roxy remarked casually.

"What are you implying?" Sky stood up, looking indignant.

"Who, me?" Roxy smirked mischievously. "I'm not implying anything. Did your precious little ego get offended by what I said? Or did _another _little part of you get upset?" Roxy's eyes lingered near Sky's crotch as she reached out to touch it lightly with her fingers.

"I will forgive you and assume that it's just the pregnancy hormones talking." Sky frowned.

Roxy scoffed. "Sure. Go ahead and believe that if it makes you feel any better."

"I'm going. I'll see you at the gala this weekend." Sky activated his portal bracelet and stepped through the portal he created without even turning to say goodbye.

Roxy laughed loudly. "Oh, men and their silly little pride! It's just too easy- and amusing- to needle him!"

Her face suddenly donned a serious expression as she remembered something important.

"_Fuck!_ The gala! I haven't written the dammed speech yet and my mother promised to come over to look at it today after she was done visiting with the Head Librarian at the Tir Nan Og library!"

She got up suddenly and immediately regretted it.

"Oh... everything's spinning..." she groaned, holding a hand to her head. "...the damned speech can wait until I dig up a dose of that painkilling potion Eldora brewed for me..."

* * *

"Roxy said that they would have a major announcement today. I wonder what it is..." Bloom said as they entered the Grand Hall of Tir Nan Og's royal palace.

Sky looked around the room, currently outfitted as a dining room of sorts, various tables circular in shape with deep green table cloths draping them scattered across one half of it and brown mahogany chairs with matching green cushioning.

A raised stage was in front of the tables and right in front of that, was a long, rectangular table where the royal family, Major Fairies and some other high ranked Tir Nan Og officials would be seated.

"Yeah... I wonder what it could be..." Sky tried to sound as convincing as possible.

"I guess we'll just have to wait to find out, huh?" Bloom said as they went to find a table.

Sky merely shrugged as they found a table somewhere in the middle of the others.

The room began to fill shortly after that and as it did, Sky recognized his close set of friends and a few other people.

He saw Princess Krystal and her boyfriend- some nobleman from Graynor, he believed- talking to a blonde woman, Eldora chatting happily with Sibylla as they took their seats at the table in front and other nobles he vaguely recognized chatting and mingling with the others, before finding their own seats.

"Hey you two!" Stella's obnoxiously cheerful voice shook him from his wandering thoughts as she and Brandon joined them at the table.

"Hey Stella! Hey Brandon! Good to see you!" Bloom perked up when their friends joined them.

"Of course! When isn't it ever good to see us?" Stella grinned.

"Hey man. Good to see you." Sky spoke as he and Brandon high fived across the table.

"Yeah. Life's been so busy recently!" Brandon sighed.

"Way too much so. At least this here is a break, just for one night..." Sky said.

"I wonder what Roxy's announcement is!" Stella exclaimed.

"That's the million dollar question, isn't it? Everyone I've heard around me has been asking that question and this thing hasn't even gotten started properly yet!" Sky answered.

He wondered how everyone in the room would react to the news that the Princess of Tir Nan Og was pregnant.

Probably a few dramatic gasps and some murmurs here and there along with some people who just didn't know how to react...

Trying to distract himself from the thought, he turned to people watching some more.

Flora had arrived with her boyfriend, Karel. The nature fairy still looked a bit ill, but seemed to be holding up. Pregnancy sickness hit her far harder than it had hit Roxy...

She and Karel stopped to talk to Princess Krystal and the others at her table for a bit, before moving on.

Even Selina was present, albeit seemingly without her own boyfriend, whom she'd recently started seeing, according to Bloom. After graduating Cloud Tower, she had returned to Earth to study full-time under Eldora for about a year, before deciding that she wanted to start channelling her energies towards helping the Earthling witches where she could.

Quite the noble cause and yet, she, Roxy, was here husband-stealing.

But of course, he_ let_ her steal him away from Bloom.

Kinda...

He didn't consider himself to be stolen. He was well aware of what he was doing, although he never considered the consequences at the time...

_He _was the one that was married.

_He _was the one that made the commitment to Bloom to be loyal and faithful. Not Roxy.

It wasn't her fault alone and he would never let himself forget that- as much as he didn't like it.

She would never let him forget it either.

The Princess of Tir Nan Og had quite the sharp, sarcastic tongue these days, a witty retort always on hand for any occasion.

He wondered if his- _their _son would inherit that trait.

_"Hopefully not..." _Sky thought. _"Maybe he'll be a bit more... mellow. Not to say that Roxy is high-strung, but..."_

Roxy was never outright rude to anyone that he knew of, but since she'd gained more confidence in herself over the years... She was more outspoken...

"Sky, are you alright?" Bloom rested her hand on his, her voice forcing him out of yet another set of wandering thoughts.

"Yeah, Bloom. I'm fine." Sky also noticed Brandon and Stella looking at him concernedly. "I am. Really."

"You seem to have a lot on your mind recently." Brandon commented.

Sky shrugged. "I guess that's just how it is..."

He was saved from having to talk any longer when it was finally time for Tir Nan Og's royal family to take their places at the head table, along with the remaining Major Fairies and the other high rankers.

* * *

The gala was in full swing.

People were eating, drinking and generally having a good time.

His cousin Thoren and his now sister-in-law, Bloom's sister Daphne stopped by for a brief chat.

"How's my little nephew doing?" Bloom asked.

"Dairus is fine. He keeps asking for his Aunt Bloom though. You and Sky need to come back to Domino for a visit. You haven't been back since he turned one and he's almost three now!" Daphne exclaimed.

"She's right, cousin. You've been away for way too long. We need to set a date to get together and just hang out. Phone calls and video chat are one thing, but spending time together in person is another thing entirely..." Thoren addressed him.

"True. We shouldn't take our time with family for granted. We'll talk after this. Promise." Sky noticed out of the corner of his eye Morgana whispering something to her daughter, who seemed somewhat nervous.

Thoren nodded. "I'll keep you to it." he nodded as he took Daphne's hand and they walked back to their table.

Roxy stood up from her seat and seemingly glided over to the microphone stand, where occasionally throughout the evening, the high ranked Tir-Nan-Og officials and others had spoken briefly.

Morgana followed her, an encouraging smile on her lips.

"Friend, allies, guests. It's been an honour to host you here in Tir Nan Og this evening." Roxy started, Sky sitting up a bit straighter as she began to speak.

"You all are here, witnessing a new era in Earthling magic. It was only a few seemingly short years ago that the Winx Club helped free my mother, my great-aunt and all the trapped Earth Fairies, along with helping me find my identity as a fairy. I really owe a lot to them and the sacrifices they made in doing so." Roxy's eyes scanned across the room as the various Winx Club members smiled back at her.

Bloom, sitting next to him, was smiling particularly brightly. _"If only she knew the bombshell that Roxy was bound to drop soon..." _Sky thought.

"A lot of you were willing to provide aid to my own realm after all of that to help it get back onto its feet. Lending your expertise towards re-establishing the Tir Nan Og Academy, helping us detect any magical in our world that would need help with their newfound powers... I'd like to say thanks to you as well."

Sky's eyes met hers and she paused.

"Which is why I think it only fitting that those of you present deserve to be the first ones to hear the news I have to share this evening." Roxy's nervousness showed again for a brief moment, but Morgana squeezed her shoulder reassuringly.

"There will soon be a new heir to the throne of Tir Nan Og." Roxy lifted her hand above her head and glowed light green briefly, dispelling the illusion spell on herself.

The room was completely silent as the great majority of its occupants took in the sight of an obviously pregnant Roxy.

Then, slowly, murmured conversations began to fill the room.

"Oh my goodness." Bloom's eyes were wide in shock for a brief moment, before her expression morphed into a happy one.

Sky took in a few other reactions. Tecna and Timmy were looking at one another in surprise, then up at the Tir Nan Og princess then back at each other again, Riven had his wine glass paused halfway from the table to his lips and Princess Krystal and her blonde friend seemed downright pissed, perhaps because she hadn't told either of them before.

"Well, whatever announcement I was expecting, it wasn't that. I wonder who the daddy is?" Stella broke the silence at their table.

_"He's right here at the table, though you're not about to find that out..."_ Sky thought.

Aisha and Musa smiled at Roxy, while Flora looked as if she didn't know what to feel (although that could be her own pregnancy sickness affecting her expression).

Pretty much everyone seemed shocked, but no one seemed overly upset (except Princess Krystal and her apparent friend) so maybe all of this might not be as bad for her as they thought.

Only time could tell...

* * *

"So that's what she meant by big announcement." Thoren spoke as he and Sky sat in the dining hall of Domino's royal palace, along with Daphne, Bloom, Mariam, Oritel and little Dairus, propped up next to his grandmother in a high-chair and cheerfully eating whatever food she was feeding him, light brown eyes filled with amusement, even as he got some of said food into his brown curls.

"Never saw it coming. I'm happy for her though." Bloom said, toying with her salad.

"Yeah, she gets to put up with years of this." Thoren inclined his head towards Dairus, who was somehow managing to get even noisier as he ate.

All of them chuckled.

"A new heir to Tir Nan Og's throne as they experience a new age in magic. I certainly wish her all the best." Daphne said as she walked over to take the now fussing toddler from his grandmother.

_"Heir to Tir Nan Og's throne? He should be the heir to Eraklyon's throne, but Roxy would never allow it. Or her family for that matter, if they knew..."_ Sky thought, frowning slightly.

"Aisha and Stella plan on visiting her next week to see how she's doing and offer her... _advice._" Marian mentioned casually.

"Stella's idea of advice... I'm sure Roxy's going to enjoy that..." Sky said sarcastically.

He of course, knew that she _wasn't _going to enjoy it. Roxy had grumbled to him on the phone about how Stella was planning on bringing over several maternity and baby shopping catalogues for her to look at. It was as if Aisha was coming, more to moderate Stella's... _eagerness_ to help than anything else.

Well that and the fact that before the gala she hadn't been to visit Nebula since before she had Duncan and the Tir Nan Og queen and Androsian princess had grown to become close friends...

"She is your friend, Bloom and she is quite capable of being serious when she needs to be, but she really does tend to get overexcited about some things..." Oritel spoke next.

"Yeah, but a new baby is always something to be excited about. I kinds don't blame her. Maybe now Astoria and Duncan will have another playmate. Flora and Musa's babies too. The new generation of Winx is forming." Bloom smiled slightly as she watched her nephew play with his mother's hair.

"Let's hope they don't get into as much trouble as we did." Sky said. He really did hope his and Roxy's son would get to live a (somewhat) normal life...

"We didn't get into trouble. Trouble found us!" Bloom laughed.

"We did go searching for it sometimes though. A lot of our adventures could have been avoided if we'd just listened to our teachers, stayed put, or not just generally go around breaking rules..." Sky shrugged.

"Those adventures came to shape who we were though. Without them, we wouldn't be who we are today, now would we?" Bloom pointed out.

"Well, when you look at it that way..."

"I wouldn't mind the little guy having some adventures of his own as long as they weren't life threatening and he had some friends at his side when he was having them." Thoren spoke.

Sky knew that with all her heart and soul, Roxy hoped the same for her son. Great friends, some adventure and excitement in his life, but without the danger part of it all.

_"Here's to wishful thinking..." _Sky thought, taking a sip of his wine. _"If he really takes after us, then it's inevitable..."_

* * *

_**Next chapter:** _We get to meet the little one at last! But his arrival into the world isn't without a bit of drama...


	7. Along Came A Baby

_**Happy Belated Birthday, Midnights!** _I can never seem to get your birthday updates out on time, can I? Hope you like it!

* * *

"Have you decided on any names for him yet?" Sky asked Roxy as she waddled around the kitchen.

"A few, but I haven't made a shortlist yet. Why is naming a child do damn difficult?" Roxy groaned.

She looked down at her baby bump, which had gotten large to the point that she could no longer see her own feet.

Two more months, she kept reminding herself. Only two more months until her son would finally be born.

But the thought of the labour pain that she would have to experience first sent chills down her spine…

"You okay?" Sky stepped over to her and began to massage her shoulders.

She sighed in pleasure. Sky's massages were just so damn good…

"I… I was just thinking about this boy's arrival in the world. What it will be like, how I will feel when I see him for the first time, what he'll look like…" she spoke quietly. "I mean, I don't really look that much like either of my parents and neither do you…"

"Yeah. Apparently I look more like my maternal grandmother than I do my own parents…" Sky commented.

"I wonder if that's how biology works in magical people. For all I know, this kid could come out with black hair and grey eyes, which none of our parents or grandparents have…"

"We'll just have to wait and see then, huh?" Sky began to rub his hands up and down her back.

"Oh… yeah…" Roxy stepped away from him with great difficulty.

"As much as I enjoyed that massage, I came in here to get something for me and this little guy to eat…" Roxy opened the fridge and began rooting around in it.

"Everything in here just looks so good…" the pregnant fairy groaned.

She'd gotten over her pregnancy sickness for the most part and food was suddenly one of the most wonderful things in the world again…

"Fruit salad? Tofu burger? Nutella on whole wheat bread?"

She finally settled on having the biggest bowl of Cheerios she'd had in her life.

"Wow. That's some bowl." Sky's eyebrows practically disappeared into his hairline as he took in the sight of the large, metal bowl.

"Yeah. It's supposed to be for mixing batter for cakes and cookies and such, but it doesn't make a half-bad jumbo cereal bowl… Holy hell, these Cheerios are so goddamn delicious… I feel like I'll have a second bowl of these later…" Roxy used a wooden mixing spoon to eat.

"Maybe we should go to the dining room or something…" Sky suggested as he made a few sandwiches of his own.

"Not a bad idea. I can't sit at the island counter anymore anyway. I'm too fat to climb onto the stools and even if I could, gravity would pull me right back off…" Roxy looked at the stools mournfully.

"Come on…" Sky put a hand on her shoulder and practically steered her out of the room.

* * *

"So… Names?" Sky brought the topic up again once they'd finished eating. "You haven't got that much time left, you know…"

"I know, I know! Time snuck up on me so fast! And I'm still dealing with school and everything!" Roxy mourned.

"Wouldn't it be wise for you to take a year off or so after he's born? I mean, dealing with a newborn, going to school, your royal duties…"

"I'll have help. Eldora volunteered to help with him, but…" Roxy took in Sky's horrified look at the thought of the infamously airheaded Fairy Godmother anywhere a baby and chortled. "…but I don't think so. Mom agreed to watch him for me when I can't. Dad too. My aunt wanted me to find a fairy nanny from among the Tir Nan Og population and even Claire offered to take him if she could. Everyone is rallying around me. Everyone important anyway." Roxy smiled.

"And I'm still stuck here behind the scenes…"

Roxy took one of his hands. "We both agreed that it would be best for all of us if nobody knew who his dad was. Sadly, not even he can know. Not until he is much older and can understand…"

"True, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. Now, about those names for the baby. Our baby..."

"Oh yeah. When I was little and I used to play house…"

Sky raised an eyebrow at her. "You used to play house, Roxy?"

"What? There was a brief period of my life where I was a total girl-girl!" Roxy looked defensive.

"Well, people do change as they grow up…" Sky shrugged.

"Yeah… I used to have this list of names for boys and girls that I would use for my imaginary children. I went back to Gardenia. To my childhood home there and I spent some time in my old room. I found the list inside one of my fairytale books…" Roxy chuckled.

Sky chuckled as well.

"Even then I was totally planning for the future, huh? Anyway, I do remember really liking the name Justin for some reason. Not feeling it now though…" Roxy shrugged.

"Me either. I like the name Malcolm, personally. It's ordinary enough that he will fit in with his friends here on Earth, but it sounds… regal enough for it to be a prince's name." Sky suggested.

"Malcolm, Malcolm, Malcolm… Well the history classes in high school that I remember taught us about a king or two with that name. What about you, little guy?" Roxy smiled and looked down at her belly, rubbing it. "Do you like the name Malcolm?"

The baby kicked in response, eliciting a yelp from his mother.

"I don't know whether that's a yes or a no…" Sky chuckled.

"He would have made even more of a fuss if he didn't like it. Like the one time I tried to drink coffee since I found out that I was pregnant. Oh my goodness. My guess is that Starbucks isn't going to be one of his favourite places when he's older…" Roxy grumbled.

"You know Malcolm so well already, huh?" Sky smiled.

Roxy raised an eyebrow. "When did we decide to actually name him Malcolm?"

"When he agreed to it when you asked him."

Roxy rolled her eyes. "Whatever. So, about his middle names…"

* * *

"I still can't believe that you didn't tell us that you were knocked up…" Krystal muttered as she, Roxy and Krystal lounged by the pool in Roxy's backyard.

"I had my reasons, Krystal!" Roxy got defensive. "I didn't even want to acknowledge the fact that I was pregnant at all, far less actually tell anyone!"

"Cool your tits, Roxy. I've gotten over that." Krytstal waved dismissively. "I was just messing with you!"

Claire choked on her drink.

"For a princes," Claire started once she recovered. "You really are terrible, Krystal. And no one would believe that you're not as nice as you look…"

"Well, I consider that a good thing. People will think you're a nice, sweet pushover and then… BAM! Surprise attack, bitches!" Krystal giggled.

"Krystal really is nice usually, but if you get on her bad side…" Roxy shuddered.

"Anyway… About that kid of yours…" Krystal gazed at her pregnant friend's belly.

"What about h- What about… the 'kid'?" Roxy stopped herself just in time.

"Oh, come on! I was hoping that you would let something slip! I'm dying to know if that kid you're having is a boy or a girl!" Krystal pouted.

"You will have to find out the gender just like anyone else. Only my family and I know about the baby's gender!" Roxy exclaimed.

"And the baby's daddy too, right?" Krystal raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, he does. And I'm not telling you about him either." Roxy's tone shut down any sort of argument that Krystal might have been formulating.

"So…" Claire broke the awkward silence that ensued. "Are you gonna have a baby shower?"

"I don't know if I want one. I mean, I've pretty much gotten what I want for my baby already. At least the basic stuff like a crib, changing table, a chest of drawers for the few sets of clothes I've gotten…" Roxy counted them off on her fingers.

"But you could still have a littler party…" Claire pointed out. "A few finger foods, some of your favourite snacks… Music… Maybe even a few games!"

"Many of my favourite foods the baby doesn't seem to like…" Roxy muttered darkly.

"I think it's a wonderful idea! I could help to arrange something. And don't worry. I can keep it tame. No wild parties for the mommy to be now!" Krystal smiled.

"Yeah, but there were never any wild parties for this fairy even before now…" Roxy rolled her eyes.

"Your son or daughter might beg to differ…" Claire commented sweetly.

But Roxy knew better. Claire was slowly being corrupted by Krystal…

Hmm… A little party _might _be fine to celebrate her son's upcoming birth. Just some friends together, the mothers among them sharing their experiences and advice…

Of course, if she did something like that, Bloom and perhaps Sky would have to be invited.

Oh boy… Several months later and she and Sky _still _felt awkward in each other's presence when Bloom was around…

Plus this _would_ be the first potential situation like that since she announced her pregnancy…

But they'd been good at hiding their relationship so far…

"I… Oh why not? Ask my mom first before you do anything though. She'd definitely want in on this…" Roxy relented.

"Of course. You can't leave baby's grandma out of something like this!" Krystal exclaimed.

"I wanna help too…" Claire piped up.

"You can help out with the shopping around here. Nobody really knows that you and I are friends so you'll be less conspicuous. My magic is still giving me some trouble and I dare not try any potions to disguise myself…" Roxy said.

This thing… it would be a chance to relax a bit before her son made his grand entrance…

She would totally be fine.

* * *

She stood in the room she had prepared for his nursery and smiled.

Light blue walls with fluffy white clouds that moved slightly (thanks to a charm from her mother), dark green wall to wall carpeting, a white changing table with a matching ordinary tale next to it, the chest of drawers with its white frame and dark blue drawers; a dark blue armchair in one corner so she could just sit and watch him if she liked- it turned into a small bed- and of course, his crib.

Right in the centre of the room was a simple white crib, its mattress covered in a light green sheet and a mobile with various stuffed animal designs hanging above it.

"Hope you like it, little guy. This is gonna be your room." Roxy rubbed her belly and smiled. "It's gonna change as you grow and form your own tastes, of course. But this room here is your space; where you'll have your sanctuary as you grow…" she waddled over to the windows and threw the curtains open, letting in the afternoon sun.

She also opened the doors that led out to the balcony and stepped out into the sun.

"Gonna have to _really_ charm these doors shut when you start crawling, walking and climbing all over everything…" Roxy chuckled at the thought as she took in the view of the grounds.

Shutting the door carefully behind her once she stepped inside and settling into the chair, she reflected.

She would have preferred things not to happen this way, but they had.

Her son was not going to suffer for it.

He would be loved and well cared for, perhaps even spoilt occasionally.

By her and the rest of her family.

"Alrighty, baby! Mommy's gotta go get ready for your party! Try to behave yourself, okay?" she rubbed her belly.

The baby kicked.

Roxy chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes…"

* * *

"You'll be a good mom, Roxy!" Aisha reassured her as they stood aside talking at her baby shower, plates of food in their hands.

"Oh, I don't know… I hope I'm a good mother for the baby. I need to be a strong role model for him and I'm afraid that I might not have much time for the little one between school and royal duties…" Roxy admitted.

"But you won't be at school forever, now will you, Roxy?" Aisha pointed out. "And as for your royal duties, your aunt is still in charge and your mother helps her out, so… You'll have help. Riven tries to help me out where he can and we spend a lot of our free time with our son."

"Yeah, you _and _Riven. Not like me and… _him…_" Roxy frowned.

"You don't want to talk about it but I can't help but wonder…" Aisha trailed off.

"He… I someone I shouldn't have been with…" Roxy admitted.

Aisha raised an eyebrow. "Married?"

Roxy remained silent.

"I will say no more on that." Aisha put a hand on her shoulder. "We all make our choices. I just hope that you can live with yours, Roxy."

"I will be able to. For the little one. I won't let my actions affect my child." Roxy assured her.

"Well then," Aisha put on a peppier tone. "At least Duncan will have another friend to play with soon, right?"

"Yeah…" Roxy perked up. "With how close you and my aunt are, I'm sure Duncan and my little Prince or Princess will get along well."

"Or grow up to hate each other, but let's not jinx that…" Aisha laughed.

Roxy looked across the room at Bloom, laughing at something Stella had apparently said.

And here she was, attending the baby shower of her husband's child's mother and she didn't know it.

Poor Bloom. Poor, sweet, _clueless _Bloom…

Roxy sighed. "I feel suddenly exhausted for some reason…" she yawned.

"Pregnancy does that to you. This baby shower is almost over though, so you'll be able to ditch the excitement and go to sleep soon…" Aisha smiled.

"That, I'm almost looking forward to…"

* * *

"Wow. Everyone's gone, huh?" Claire said as she and Roxy relaxed in the living room late in the night.

"Yep. Baby shower's over and now all I've got to look forward to is evicting this kid from me. If the simple act of walking is so damn hard…" Roxy yawned.

"Come on, Roxy. Let's go to bed. I'll stay with you tonight. My roommates tend to get pretty rowdy on the weekends so I'm staying here until they get over their hangovers on Monday…" Claire helped her up the stairs and to her room.

"Nice to see how you invited yourself over for a sleepover and not even Krystal managed that somehow…" Roxy chuckled.

"Who knows? I'm talented like that?" Claire smiled. "Now go to sleep while you can."

"I'll try, but this kid likes to dance in there at random times." Roxy laughed. "Anyway, goodnight…"

* * *

"I don't feel so good..." Roxy tossed the sheets off herself as she got up in the middle of the night.

"Why is it so hot?" she groaned. "And why does my head feel like someone took a mallet to it?" she eased herself out of bed slowly.

She waddled over to the en-suite bathroom and splashed water on her face.

"Cold water isn't helping..." she moaned between mouthfuls of water.

"Maybe... Maybe if I walked around a bit, I would feel better..." she rubbed her forehead as she walked, somehow fumbling her way out of the room in utter darkness.

She choked on the feeling of bile coming up her throat and forced it back down.

"Come on. That nausea thing is supposed to be over by now..." she stumbled.

"Roxy, you okay?" Roxy could hear Claire's voice faintly, as if she was somehow far away.

"No, not really..." she groaned.

Her head was spinning and then she was falling...

She heard a scream as her head hit something hard and then she knew no more...

* * *

Light.

Warm, bright light.

Was she... was she dead?

But no... She could still feel a dull sort of pain all over.

A sharp pain in her head hit her suddenly and she groaned.

"Roxy? Roxy, sweetheart, can you hear me?" She felt a hand, hot in comparison to hers, caressing her cheek.

"I..." Roxy managed to open her eyes slowly.

"Roxy, sweetheart, your mother is here..."

But... where was here...?

"You're in hospital, sweetie. You took a hard fall down those stairs..." her mother's tone was quiet.

For some reason, she felt lighter. She shouldn't be this light. She was heavily pregnant after all.

She looked down.

No, she wasn't pregnant any more...

"What... what happened to my son?! Why am I not-" she began to panic, immediately assuming the worst.

"When you fell down the stairs, you had a placental abruption and your baby went into distress. Not only did you bang up your head but the baby was banged up as well. You're lucky your friend Claire was there. She called an ambulance and managed to contact me as well..."

"Is my son... is he...?"

"He is alive and being cared for in the NICU. He's in good hands..." Morgana smiled.

"When can I see him?" Roxy asked softly.

"As soon as your doctor says that it's okay for you to get out of that bed. I know you must be anxious to meet your little boy..."

Roxy murmured something that sounded like agreement as she began to feel groggy again.

"Sleep more, my dear." Morgana held her hand lightly. "You can dream of your son in the meantime..."

* * *

Roxy stood inside the NICU, guided by a nurse towards the incubator that held her baby.

"Well... Here he is, Princess. This is your little Prince right here..." the nurse smiled, gesturing to the incubator... _his_ incubator... when they finally reached it.

He was _tiny_, with the smallest hint of dark hair on his head.

He looked to be asleep, but with all those tubes and needles in him...

"_He... _All those tubes and stuff... They don't hurt him, do they?" she asked anxiously.

"Oh no. They help him. He can't quite eat or breathe on his own yet, so they help him with that and medicate him..." the nurse explained.

Roxy reached forward as if to touch him, but drew her hand back, hesitating.

"It's okay. You can touch him..." the nurse encouraged her.

He was warm to the touch and she could feel his tiny chest moving up and down under her finger.

"It's okay, sweetie. Your mommy is here... Oh my goodness, I'm actually a mom..." Roxy chuckled nervously.

"You're here a little earlier than expected, but we can adjust. You're my little prince and I'm gonna do my best to bring you up to be a good royal and a good person. I'm never going to let anyone hurt you..." Roxy smiled at him.

"Do you have a name for the little one yet?" the nurse asked. "I know his birth was sudden and all..."

"Yeah, I do. His name will be Malcolm Alan Zachary Klaus. Those first three are to be his given names. In that order..." Roxy trailed off as her son... Malcolm drew her attention again.

She was completely lost to the world as she looked down on and lightly caressed his tiny form with her finger.

Malcolm... her son... her little baby... he was here at last...


	8. Isn't He Lovely?

First update of any of my fanfictions in the year 2016! It's January 4, but I haven't updated this since February 7, _last year._

_**Oops...**_

* * *

Sky sat in an armchair his private study, trying to relax by reading a novel, but his mind was elsewhere.

He hadn't seen or heard from Roxy in a few days and it was starting to worry him.

It wasn't like before he knew that she was pregnant, with her being cranky and snappish with him before she tried to ignore all his attempts at contacting her.

No, they were speaking quite amicably up to just after her baby shower had ended and he hadn't heard a thing from her since.

Something was wrong.

He could feel it.

He hoped he was wrong, but the little voice in the back of his head kept telling him otherwise, even though it had been less than three days...

He slammed the book shut and rested it on the little table beside his armchair.

It was normally one of his favourite novels, but he couldn't focus on it right now.

He sighed and covered his face with his hands.

_"Roxy, are you okay?" _he wondered aloud. _"Am I just being paranoid or did something really happen to you?"_

His landline rang, shaking him out of his reverie.

_"Yes?"_ he walked over to the desk where the phone was and answered, sounding rather testy.

"Your Majesty," Sky recognised the voice of one of his advisors, a man called Luther. "I apologise for the interruption, especially as I was told that nothing was to disturb you today, but Lady Morgana herself called to say that Princess Roxanne was hospitalised after an accident that took place almost three days ago."

Sky paled dramatically at his advisor's words and he felt as if his heart had stopped for several seconds.

He sat in the desk chair took a few more seconds to try composing himself at the bombshell that had just been dropped on him.

"Did Princess Morgana mention anything about the state of her daughter's health?" Sky asked. "Or that of her unborn child?"

"No, Your Majesty. She did not say anything further on that matter. Her Majesty, your wife, has also been informed." Luther said.

"Ah. Thank you, Luther." Sky sighed. "Where is my wife currently?"

"In her quarters, Your Majesty..." Luther answered.

"Very well. Thank you for informing me."

"Yes, Your Majesty..."

Sky ended the call.

"Well, at least my instincts weren't wrong..." he muttered darkly as he eased himself out of the chair, stretched and headed for the door.

* * *

"I'm just so concerned for Roxy and her baby!" Bloom exclaimed as she sat at the edge of her bed. "We don't even know how bad it is, but for her... for them to be hospitalised..."

"I understand, Bloom. I didn't expect something like this to happen either..." Sky sat next to her and rubbed her shoulders.

"Who would have?" Bloom asked sadly.

"I wonder how she and her child are doing. Did her accident... whatever it was, however it happened... cause harm to him... _or_ her? Did Roxy have to have the child early?" Sky voiced all the questions running through his mind.

"Please don't say things like that!" Bloom exclaimed. "Roxy and the baby will be fine! Morgana would have said something if the situation was dire, wouldn't she?"

"You're right, Bloom. We don't know exactly what happened. Plus it happened a few days ago, right? Yet we're now being informed? I hope it means that she's out of the worst of it, whatever _it _is..." Sky spoke soothingly.

"Plus maybe they didn't want the media hounding them, so that's why they kept this... unfortunate news quiet from anyone outside of the family for so long..." Bloom theorized.

"Perhaps," Sky nodded in agreement. "but for now, until we hear more news, we can only wish her and the baby well..."

His and Roxy's baby.

Hi and Roxy's son.

Regardless of how he had come to be conceived, Sky still loved that little boy, even though he hadn't been born yet (at least, not to his knowledge).

He would never have wished something like this on Roxy or the baby...

* * *

His day had been long and tiring.

Filled with monotonous meetings, odious officials and documents filled with legalese that he had to decipher on his own for now, he dived headfirst into it all to distract himself from all his other problems.

It had been a week since he'd gotten the news of Roxy's hospitalisation and so far, she'd not been allowed to leave yet.

Neither had his son, who he learnt had been born early via caesarean section.

The doctors at that non-magical hospital Roxy had been brought to were doing well by both mother and baby apparently, but since part of the problem that landed said mother and baby in there in the first place was magical in nature, they couldn't... wouldn't... be able to fix everything...

Sky sighed as he flopped ungraciously into his bed and kicked off his shoes.

_"Now the general public knows what happened as well, or at least, a small part of it..."_ Sky thought. _"They know that he's been born now, but they don't even know his gender or his name. Somehow, they managed to keep that information under wraps..."_

He tossed and turned for a bit before sitting up.

"I would never have imagined that something like this would happen to any child of mine. Then again, no father would..."

The thought hit him like an airship on maximum speed.

He was a parent now.

A father.

He had a child.

A son...

He hadn't even had the chance to meet the baby yet or even see what he looked like in a picture, but he found himself loving that little boy already.

Sure, the relationship between himself and his son's mother was unconventional, but that little boy was his.

He just hoped that he would pull through whatever was happening to him now so he could finally get to meet him.

* * *

Sky was sitting in the throne room alongside Bloom when a messenger entered the room, looking rather excited.

"Your Majesties! I bring news from Earth! From Tir Nan Og!" the messenger exclaimed.

"We are listening..." Sky and Bloom sat up just a little bit straighter.

"Councilman Luther was present when it arrived in the Royal Mail Room and he asked me to give it to you personally. He also sends his regards and hopes that it is good news..." The young man held out a sealed envelope which a guard took from him and then passed it onto the king himself.

Sky gazed at it for a few moments, until Bloom spoke up.

_"Well?"_ Bloom asked, sounding impatient._ "Open it!"_

Pausing briefly to raise an eyebrow at his impatient wife, he opened the envelope.

He pulled out a light blue card with gold print on it and read aloud.

_"The Royal Court of Tir Nan Og wishes to formally announce to our allies and friends the birth of the second in line to our throne on January 17th. The newest heir, a boy, will be named Malcolm Alan Zachary and his title shall be Prince of Tir Nan Og."_

Bloom squealed with delight. "Oh, a boy! Roxy must be so happy that he's finally here! Not in the way she expected, but... a darling little boy, I'm sure!"

"Yes. I'm sure..." Sky said as he reached into the envelope and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.

"This one is a letter. From Roxy herself and is addressed to both of us." Sky read through it briefly and then handed it to Bloom for her to read.

Sky thought about the contents of the letter as his wife read it.

Basically, she had said that she was not one hundred percent well, but she was finally in good enough shape to leave the hospital, as was her... _their_ son. She'd be staying in Tir Nan Og with him for two weeks until she was completely ready to return to Los Angeles. She was also planning on inviting them, along with some of her other closest friends to meet him as soon as she was up to it.

"Well," Sky spoke casually. "That is the best news I've heard all week."

"I'll say. Nothing like a good bit of news to brighten your day." Bloom was smiling almost as brightly as if she was announcing the birth of her own child.

He was still saddened that he hadn't had a child with his own wife yet, but at least he had Malcolm...

* * *

Two weeks later, Sky, as he sat in his private study, he received a call on his cell phone- with the ring tone he had specifically set for when Roxy was calling.

Without hesitation, he reached for the phone.

"Hello, Roxy. How are you feeling? Are you better?" Sky immediately asked.

_"Much better than I have been these past few weeks..."_ Roxy grumbled.

_"And how's Malcolm? Our son?"_ Sky asked anxiously.

_"Better, but since he was born so early, he's so small... He's a quiet little one, but he's so small and fragile looking..." _Roxy admitted, sounding worried about the fact.

He couldn't blame her. He was worried for him too...

_"Listen to me. I know that the general "Come Meet The Baby" gathering is on Saturday... just a few days from now really... but you're his father. I want you to meet him first before the rest do..." _Roxy said.

"I don't have a problem with that. When should I come?" Sky asked.

_"Come on over to Los Angeles tomorrow. Any time after 7PM on my end would be fine. I should finally be alone then..."_ Roxy responded.

"Fine. I'll be there. I promise." Sky vowed.

_"Great. Now if you'll excuse me..." _Sky suddenly heard the sounds of a baby's cry in the background. _"...our son needs something. I'll see you then."_

Roxy hung up.

Sky put down the phone and leaned back further into his chair.

He was finally going to get to meet his little boy...

* * *

He kissed Bloom goodbye as he headed off to his study.

After locking the doors and making sure that they were secure, he fiddled with the portal bracelet he had on his right wrist, hidden beneath a long sleeved shirt.

Glancing at his left hand, his eyes locked on his wedding ring.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled the band off and opening a drawer in his desk, rested the ring inside, then locked the drawer.

He took a moment to clear his head.

"Well," he spoke aloud as he pressed a tiny button on the bracelet. "here goes..."

A portal opened in front of him.

"At least portals made by those keyed into the wards won't set off any alarms," Sky chuckled mirthlessly. "otherwise I would have a lot of explaining to do as to why I'm going to Roxy's home alone..."

He stepped through the portal and in a flash, it and him were gone.

* * *

Sky stood outside the door of Roxy's home and hesitating only slightly, knocked firmly.

Seconds passed, before Roxy was there, opening the door for him.

She looked slightly sleep deprived, but other than that, she appeared fine.

Appeared, being the key word. He was well aware by now that looks could be deceiving...

"Good. You're finally here." Roxy smiled slightly at him. "Are you ready to meet him?"

Sky smiled back at her. "Of course," he said. "I've been ready to meet him for a long time..."

"Then, come with me..." Roxy took his hand and led him inside.

They went upstairs and Roxy stopped in front of a door to a room that was two doors down from where her own room... where their son was conceived...

He quashed down the memory of that particular event and focused on the present.

"Here we are..." Roxy opened the door and ushered him inside.

Sky looked around at the nursery, with its light, airy colours and comfortable feeling.

He spotted the crib in the very middle of the room that Roxy was now heading over to.

She reached inside it and lifted out... _his son..._

"Here the little guy is. Here's Malcolm..." Roxy walked over to him slowly.

When she was close enough, he took in the sight of his son fully for the first time.

He truly was a tiny thing even for a newborn, but that could always be a factor of his prematurity.

He was pale, only a hint of dark hair on his head and he was sleeping, so Sky couldn't see the colour of his eyes.

"His eyes are blue," Roxy said, noting his gaze at the baby she held. "just like yours. And I see a hint of dark brown hair. Your dad had that hair colour and my mother has it..."

"Looks more like our parents than he does us then..." Sky murmured, though privately, he thought that Malcolm didn't look much like anyone yet.

"Do you want to hold him?" Roxy looked him straight in the eye.

"Yes... of course I want to hold him..."

Roxy carefully handed the baby over to him and Sky took him gently, cradling him as if he were a fragile, precious treasure.

Which Malcolm _was,_ at least to him...

Having learnt how to hold babies from his friends who'd already had babies of their own, he corrected his hold on Malcolm and simply gazed down at him, taking in the sight of the life he had helped to create.

The circumstances weren't the best, but he'd be damned if he ever regretted the birth of his son.

"Welcome to the world, little guy." Sky smiled down at the still sleeping baby. "I know your mommy and I might not have the most ideal relationship, but I'm still glad you're here..."

Malcolm squirmed and started to open his eyes.

"He's waking up. Maybe I should take him..." Roxy reached for him, by Sky stopped her.

"No, he's fine. He's not fussing. See?"

Indeed, Malcolm was looking up at him with a look of interest, likely pondering who the strange man holding him was.

"That's your father, Malcolm. The same one you got those adorable blue eyes from..." Roxy giggled.

"Isn't he lovely, Roxy?" Sky began to smile as Malcolm cooed. "He seems like he'll be such a sweet little guy..."

"Sure, he's sweet until he gets cranky for whatever reason..." Roxy rolled her eyes. "but _yes,_" she spoke in a gentler tone. "he _is_ lovely..."


	9. Introduction

"Well..." Roxy smiled down at her son as she finished dressing him. "...that's you, my little one. All clean and dressed. How long you'll remain that way, I don't know, but you're my cutie all the same."

She caressed his cheek and was about to put him in a car seat she had rested on the other side of his changing table when a soft knock was heard on the door.

"Roxy! Are you and Malcolm ready?" Morgana's voice came through the door.

"Yes, Mom! We're ready." Roxy held Malcolm up to her shoulder and ruffled the tiny bit of hair he had on his head lovingly as her mother opened the door.

_"Although..."_ Roxy suddenly looked unsure. "...he's only a few weeks old. Is he ready to be exposed to those people?" She clutched her son anxiously. "All those loud noises around him, plus I'm no germophobe, but just the _thought_ of exposing him to potential germs and sickness, plus he was born premature and-"

_"Roxy." _Morgana spoke calmly, cutting her daughter off. "He will be fine. Many other royal families have introduced their heirs to the world mere _hours_ after they were born. Malcolm is now four months old. A whole _month_ old. Plus he _has_ been seen by the best doctors- both magical and mundane- that we thought appropriate..."

"I suppose..." Roxy adjusted her hold on the baby and cradled him, looking into his face. "I can't help but feel so protective of him. Even before he was born..." She caressed his face lightly and smiled down at him.

Morgana looked at her daughter, a small smile on her face. "I understand. I_ am _your mother, after all. You are well aware of what our kind went through so many years ago and the lengths I went to in order to protect you..."

Roxy held her son slightly closer at these words and her mother noticed.

"Luckily, he will never have anyone hunting him down. He will be very well protected by us all." Morgana reassured her. "Now, _come._"

The older fairy put a hand on Roxy's shoulder, guiding her towards the door. "We all have somewhere to be..."

* * *

The guests had not yet arrived and so the Grand Hall of Tir Nan Og looked quite empty, despite the few royal staffers present putting the final touches on its decoration in hues of blue, silver and white.

"Well, soon the world (or at least, a limited part of it) will meet you..." Roxy set Malcolm down in a bassinet on top of a raised stage, which was positioned next to what (to Roxy) looked like a giant, cream-coloured, plush armchair.

"I assume that this chair is mine?" Roxy queried of a passing staffer.

"Yes, Princess. We wouldn't dream of separating you from the little prince, after all..." the staffer smiled.

"Since it's a less formal affair, the seating arrangements will be more lax. Nice, comfortable chairs that are more... _lounge-y_ than gala-esque, people are free to mingle and choose their own seats..."

"Let's hope that that arrangement doesn't blow up in our faces..." Roxy murmured.

"If it does, whoever is responsible for that will immediately be thrown out if they cause a big fuss. Possibly literally." Morgana spoke with a glint in her eye that made Roxy think that her mother meant what she said entirely.

"Well then, I definitely know for sure that there's nothing to worry about..." Roxy smiled.

" That is fantastic then, as the first guests are scheduled to arrive in about half an hour or so. As for your guests not getting along, seeing as you've only invited your closest friends and allies, surely this shouldn't be a problem..." the staffer checked her clipboard. "Excuse me, Princess. I really must be going." the other fairy gave Roxy a polite bow and briskly walked off.

* * *

The first people to arrive were Krystal and Claire.

With only a passing acknowledgement from the pair of armed Warrior Fairies that guarded over the princess and her son, the two immediately started admiring the newborn prince.

"Oh my goodness, Roxy! He's such a little sweetheart!" Krystal cooed over the still sleeping baby as Roxy tucked him into the bassinet. "Unlike his mother..."

"And there we go..." Claire rolled her eyes. "It's a mystery to me why everyone thinks you're so nice, Krystal..."

_"Of course I'm nice!"_ Krystal exclaimed, mock indignant. "It's just that I can have my... _b..._" she glanced at the baby and corrected herself. "_...not nice _moments just like anyone else."

"Um... Thank you for the compliment, Krystal..." Roxy chuckled. "I think he's a little sweetheart too. He's very quiet. Sleeps and eats when he's supposed to as well. I thought that babies were supposed to give more grief than this. _Not that I'm complaining..._"

"He_ is_ cute, for such a young newborn." Claire cooed down at him. "Normally babies don't really have much of a distinct look to them at this age. They all usually just look the same to me..."

"Maybe it's because he's magical. Who knows?" Roxy would have shrugged if she hadn't been holding her son at the time. "Even now I'm not fully cognizant of the difference between magical and non-magical babies. I've got so much to learn..."

"How's his health now? And yours?" Claire queried.

"We're okay. I still get those headaches and dizzy spells on occasion, but I've asked some of the fairies with more healing and medical knowledge about it and they say it should go away soon. As for Malcolm, he's had a fever once or twice since he was born, but that was quickly taken care of..." Roxy stroked the tiny bit of hair on top of his head lightly.

She glanced up at the entryway at the sound of more chatter and saw that more guests were arriving, members of the Winx Club and their spouses/significant others in tow.

"Why don't you go enjoy the rest of the celebration and give other people a chance to meet my son?" Roxy inclined her head towards the entrance and the incoming guests.

Krystal smiled. "Sure. Can't keep the adorable little prince to yourself, after all. Let's go."

She and Claire walked off and Roxy had a few moments of peace to herself as she examined the incoming guests.

Flora was present with her boyfriend; the Linphean fairy now obviously pregnant (and still looking a bit sick) and leaning on him slightly.

Musa and Helia were, quite naturally there together, the Fairy of Music looking ready to give birth at any moment.

The horrifying idea of her going into labour at this even passed through her mind and she shuddered.

Tecna and Timmy had already made it inside and were talking to some other guests before they made their way over.

Stella and Brandon had spotted Krystal and the Solarian princess had insisted on going over for a bit of a chat.

Aisha and Riven were talking amicably with her mother, father and aunt, Riven laughing at a joke that her father had apparently just given.

Roxy was sure it was some sort of _inappropriate_ joke. Not that she minded those sorts of jokes (especially since attending college in Magix), but she supposed that if there was at least one person in her social circle that would like those sorts of jokes and not care when and how they were made, it would be Riven...

Roxy's heart stopped slightly as she saw Bloom and Sky enter the room arm in arm, the blond king presenting his invitation card to one of the heavily armed Warrior Fairies stationed just outside the hall for security purposes.

With every passing day, Roxy wondered how long they'd be able to maintain the charade; the façade; whatever one wanted to call it.

So much of her life had become a lie over the past few months, all because she couldn't control herself and behaved like a horny teenager with a man that wasn't hers and would never be...

She hoped _dearly _that her son would have much more self control than she (or his father) did when he got older and started discovering the wonders of the opposite sex (or the same one, it didn't matter to her, as long as he was happy).

Bloom looked happy to be there, as did Sky. He played his role well.

But Bloom... was she truly oblivious to all of this? What was _really_ going on behind the scenes? Or was she truly ignorant of the truth?

Roxy felt sorry for her if she knew, but also terrified of what would happen if she _did_ know. While it was true that the Keeper of the Dragon's Flame had calmed down considerably over the years, she still wasn't one to be messed with- even if one didn't factor in her powers...

She became so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice when Malcolm awoke and was now beginning to get slightly restless.

"No, no, no, sweetheart. It's okay. There's no need to fuss. There's no need to cry, my precious little angel..." she spoke to him soothingly, rubbing his head lightly with a single finger. She'd noticed that he seemed to like that action very much, the few times he'd gotten irritated her, it had helped to calm him down.

Malcolm paused in his fussing when she started unravelling the blankets tucking him and picked him up.

Flora, who was nearing with Karel, let out an _"Aww!" _as she saw Roxy cradling her son gently and murmuring to him, getting him to calm down.

"You're so good with him, Roxy! I only hope that I'm as good as that with my own child when they _finally..._" Flora looked briefly irritated as she rubbed her belly. "...vacate the premises..."

Roxy giggled. "Flora, I'm sure you'll be the best mother in the world. You're already one of the kindest, sweetest friends anyone could have and I'm pretty sure that Karel thinks you're nice enough..."

Karel snickered. "Of course I do. We wouldn't be having our little girl otherwise..."

_"Oh?"_ Roxy raised an eyebrow. "You're expecting a girl?"

Flora rolled her eyes. "He thinks we've having a girl and I think we're having a boy. Neither of us wants the test done to confirm it though, so we'll find out that_ I'm_ right after I go into labour and give birth..."

"Well, I'm not getting into_ that_ debate..." Roxy looked down at Malcolm as he made a little noise and started snuggling him.

"It's probably a smart decision. Best to remain neutral and all..." Karel smiled.

"My sister hasn't learnt that though. She took his side. She also believes it's going to be a little girl. Says she's looking forward to having a niece to spoil..." Flora sighed. "Betrayed by my own sister..."

"Either way, I hope your child will grow up to be friends with mine someday. Though hopefully they and their friends won't get into the same trouble you and yours got into while in college..." Roxy said.

Flora and Karel shuddered in unison at the very thought.

"Anyway, it's been nice speaking with you, but there are others that want to admire your little cutie besides us..." Flora cooed over Malcolm again a bit before allowing Karel to lead her off in the direction of some refreshments.

Roxy spoke with and introduced her little one to several other admirers before _they_ came along.

"He's so cute!" Bloom cooed when she got close enough to properly see Malcolm.

Roxy swallowed nervously and readied herself to play the part.

"He is, isn't he?" Sky looked over Bloom's shoulder, looking Roxy in the eyes as he spoke, a flash of _something_ passing through them when he did.

Roxy smiled weakly at him.

Bloom missed the entire silent exchange between them

"We finally get to meet him in person!" Bloom squealed.

"Well, that _is_ the purpose of this entire thing..." Roxy pointed out. "To introduce him to my closest friends and allies..."

"May I hold him?" Bloom asked nervously.

Roxy's heart nearly stopped and if she hadn't mastered the poker face by now, her eyes would have widened.

She chanced a glance up at Sky, who gave a barely discernible nod.

_"Go ahead,"_ he mouthed.

Roxy swallowed nervously and nodded.

"Sure, you can..." Roxy made sure she had a firm grip on Malcolm as she stood up.

The guards on either side of her glanced at what she was doing, but made no move to interfere.

Gently, Roxy handed her son over to the other fairy.

Now, seemingly hyperaware of what was going on around her, she heard the clicks of the cameras of the photographers that her family had allowed to be present to take the official photos.

"He's so precious," Bloom smiled down at him. "he's going to grow up to do some wonderful things, I'm sure..."

"I sure hope he does..." Roxy smiled back as she took back her son.

She glanced at Sky again and noticed that he was now sporting an expression of relief.

"He'll probably grow up to be a handsome young man too. You'll have to chase off groupies with a couple hexes and jinxes..." Sky piped up.

Roxy and Bloom giggled.

"Here, take your son back. You have lots of other people to introduce him to." Bloom handed Malcolm back to his mother, who promptly returned him to the bassinet.

After Sky and Bloom had moved on, Roxy breathed a sigh of relief.

"That went well..." Roxy murmured. "Though... look at you. Barely a month old and you already have so much people fawning over you..."

Many others passed by to be introduced to the young prince, Aisha being the only other person to ask to hold him.

After a while, she had to take a few breaks to change him and feed him so instead of returning to her original position, she walked around the room instead, her guards close behind at all times.

"Well, Malcolm's introduction to the world certainly went well, didn't it?" Morgana stepped up behind her as she stood on a balcony, enjoying the view outside.

"It did. Everyone was polite and got to fuss over a cute baby. I don't know what I was worrying about. All the staff did well, helping us pull this off..." Roxy smiled.

Morgana reached out for her grandson and Roxy handed him over.

"Go and mingle with the guests some more. I shall take care of him and fuss over him some more. It _is_ my job as his grandmother, after all." Morgana smiled.

"Indeed it is..." Roxy giggled. "Fine. I'll go..."

The princess stepped back into the party, now temporarily baby free.

Her son's introduction to the world had come off much better than she thought it would have.


End file.
